‘We’re pretty fired up and happy.’ El Capitan will play for water polo section title.
A big third quarter helped the El Capitan High girls water polo team pull away from St. Mary’s as the Gauchos punched their ticket into Saturday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division II championship game with a 13-9 win over the Rams in the semifinals on Tuesday afternoon at Johansen High School in Modesto.
The No. 2 seed Gauchos (21-1) outscored No. 3 St. Mary’s 6-1 in the third quarter to break open a game that was tied 6-6 at the half.
“We were able to get a third ejection for one of their better players so she was out for the second half,” El Capitan coach Kristie Dunham said. “Marlo Carpenter and Alexis Smith did a good job of working on their players, making them get frustrated and getting ejections.”
Kendall Thomas, Smith and Anika Jones led the scoring barrage in the third quarter.
Thomas finished with seven goals and two assists.
“Kendall had an outstanding game,” Dunham said.
Smith finished with three goals and four steals. Samantha Verrinder played a big supporting role with four assists and six steals. Goalie Jenna Briggs stopped seven shots in the cage.
“We’re so pumped,” Dunham said. “To play in a section final is a huge achievement. It’s an outstanding feeling. We’re pretty fired up and happy.”
The Gauchos will face top seed Rio Americano in the finals at 2:30 p.m at Roseville Aquatics Complex. The Raiders defeated Ponderosa 10-2 in the other semifinal game.
“Rio Americano is a good, well-coached team,” Dunham said. “They are bigger than St. Mary’s and they play more of a structured game of water polo. We’re going to have to shut down their 2-meters. They like to score from 2-meters. They have one outside shooter.
“I do think we’ll be in it to win it.”
