El Capitan, Buhach Colony girls cruise to victories in water polo playoff openers
The El Capitan High girls water polo team has accomplished a lot with a young group this season.
Despite returning no starters from last spring and featuring a line-up that includes two freshmen, the Gauchos went a perfect 12-0 en route to a Central California Conference championship.
El Capitan added a playoff victory to the list of accomplishments on Tuesday with a 20-3 victory over No. 11 seed Grace Davis in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs at El Capitan High School.
“We had to do a lot of work to get whatever wins we could and to get where we’re at as a team right now,” said El Capitan coach Kristie Dunham, whose team improved to 18-8 overall.
“When we played in the spring most of our girls didn’t start or play often. They all committed to play this summer and that helped coming into the season, but we had to work for wins, especially in league.”
The work showed as the No. 6 seeded Gauchos dominated from the start against the Spartans.
El Capitan raced out to an 11-0 lead in the first quarter with five different players scoring goals.
Faith Miller and freshman Abby Fernandez both led the way for the Gauchos with five goals each. Claudette Asenjo and Kiryn Wicker both added three goals.
“We’re starting to click at the right time,” said Dunham. “Our ball movement is a lot better. Our defense is a lot better.”
The Gauchos will have to be at their best in the quarterfinals against No. 3 Del Oro on Thursday.
The two teams have one common opponent in Granite Bay. Del Oro lost to Granite Bay by two goals and El Capitan lost to Granite Bay by five goals.
“It’s going to be tight game,” Dunham said. “I think we’re capable of closing a three-point spread. We’re going to have to play good team defense. We have to control the ball and make sure we don’t let them counter attack.”
Buhach Colony 17, Oakdale 5
The No. 7 seeded Thunder also cruised in their Division II playoff opener against the Mustangs.
Buhach Colony’s defense forced steals and turnovers which set up a flurry of transition goals for the Thunder.
Sydney Abril scored four first-quarter goals to help BC open up a 5-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. Buhach Colony extended that lead to 10-3 at the half.
“We stepped up and played playoff level today,” said Buhach Colony coach A.J. Abril, whose team improved to 26-11 overall. “We were ready to go.”
Sydney Abril led the way with eight goals, which brings her season total to 118 goals on the season.
Younger sister Kyley Abril scored five goals and Ayelen Colung added three goals.
“We preach defense and and we played great team defense today,” A.J. Abril said. “Our defense led to every single one of our goals.”
The Thunder advance to play No. 2 Ponderosa on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
“We’re going to need to come out and strike first on offense and defense,” A.J. Abril said. “We have to play with the same energy we played with today.”
In other playoff action on Tuesday, No. 12 Merced lost to No. 5 Rodriguez 12-9.
This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 8:37 PM.
