Bill Halpin knew it wasn't going to be that easy.
His Merced College women's water polo team ran its offense to near perfection in the opening quarter on Wednesday afternoon.
The state No. 8 Lady Devils scored on four of five shots, jumping out to a 4-0 lead over Coast Conference rival Foothill.
MARCI STENBERG/mstenberg@merced sun-star.com - Merced College's (10) Stevie Willis works her way past Foothill's Sarah Magee in the second period of a game at Merced College on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 afternoon in Merced, Ca.
MARCI STENBERG/mstenberg@mercedsun-star.com - Merced College's Courtney Frampton looks for a player to toss to in the second period of a game at Merced College on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 afternoon in Merced, Ca.
MARCI STENBERG/mstenberg@merced sun-star.com - Mrced College's Katie Elam tosses to another player as Foothill's Amanda Virak closes in the first period of a game at Merced College on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 afternoon in Merced, Ca.
MARCI STENBERG/mstenberg@merced sun-star.com - Merced College's Vanessa Morales toss the ball towards the goal in the second period of a game at Merced College on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 afternoon in Merced, Ca.
MARCI STENBERG/mstenberg@merced sun-star.com - Merced College's Vanessa Morales (6) defends as Foothills Sarah Magee looks to pass in the second period of a game at Merced College on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 afternoon in Merced, Ca.
MARCI STENBERG/mstenberg@mercedsun-star.com - Merced College's Vanessa Morales,(6) goes up for the goal in the first period of a game at Merced College on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011 afternoon in Merced, Ca.
But keeping shots on frame has not been a strength for MC this season, and sure enough, once it started missing the target, Foothill made a run cutting the lead to 4-2 at halftime.
"It was back to our old scenario where we missed a lot of open shots," Halpin said. "If you let a team hang around you're asking for trouble, and Foothill came right back."
There'd be no collapse this day, however.
A rousing speech by Halpin at halftime fired the troops back up. Katie Elam built the lead right back up with a pair of quick goals in the third quarter and Vanessa Morales slammed the door shut with two quick ones in the fourth as MC pulled away for an 8-3 victory.
"We saw a mismatch with Katie out on the wing and boom, boom, she got us to big goals to start the second half," Halpin said. "We're just not putting enough shots on goal."
While the offense struggled to find consistency in the game, the Lady Devil defense remained an anchor.
Led by Elam (four steals) and Mallory Howard (two goals, four steals), MC had 11 steals in the game and held the Owls 0 for 7 in man-up opportunities.
"That's something we've really spent a lot of time on in practice," Howard said. "The focus for the game was taking away ball side and just getting around your man.
"If we took their hole-set away, they didn't have much offense."
Howard helped get things started on the right foot, burying a shot on MC's opening possession. Poni McGee and Morales also found the net on the Lady Devils' next two possessions as they raced out to a 3-0 lead. Howard capped the opening quarter with a second goal, giving MC all the offense it would need.
The victory was part of a sweep for the polo teams as the Merced College men dispatched of Solano 11-0 in the early game.
Daniel Truong led all scorers with three goals, while Trey Dutcher, Greg Bracamonte and Bryant Melton all chipped in two.
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