Merced girls open playoffs with win
Jane Eckles and the Merced High girls water polo team made Bears coach Seth Gentry proud with their playoff win.
For Eckles, that’s all the mattered.
“Our coach is proud of us, he’s never proud of us,” the Merced senior joked.
Gentry had plenty of reasons to be proud after the Bears (23-6) cruised to a 13-8 win over Napa in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoffs on Saturday at Johansen High.
Reason No. 1: The Bears dominated from the start, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter.
Reason No. 2: The Merced defense smothered Napa, holding the Indians scoreless for a 13-minute, 32-second stretch that started late in the first quarter and ended late in the third quarter.
Reason No. 3: With a 10-goal lead by the middle of the third quarter Gentry was able to get every Merced player into the game by the final whistle.
“It was nice to have the starting group come out and get control of the game,” Gentry said. “It allowed everyone to play. One of my goals was to get all the kids an opportunity to play in a playoff game.”
The Bears scored from all over the pool.
Merced started with two outside shots from the wing by Savannah Hall and Eckles. Kathryn Elgin then powered her way to a shot at center for the Bears’ third goal.
Eckles then drew a penalty shot on a breakaway and converted it for a 4-0 lead with 1:18 left in the first quarter.
“I felt at the very beginning we were a little slow, but as the pregame jitters melted away we got the ball rolling,” said Eckles, who scored twice and assisted on two other goals.
Elgin led the offensive attack with six goals and two assists. Stephanie Hart added four goals.
The Bears were determined to advance in the playoffs after getting knocked out in the first round last season.
“For me it was definitely a factor,” Elgin said. “I want to get to the second or third round this time.”
Napa couldn’t get anything going against Merced before Gentry emptied his bench in the fourth quarter.
Anna Erickson scored for the Indians to cut Merced’s lead to 4-1 with 54 seconds in the first quarter. Napa’s next goal came from Erickson with 1:22 left in the third quarter that cut the Bears’ lead to 11-2.
Six of Napa’s goals came in the fourth quarter after the game was decided.
“Our defense set everything up,” Gentry said. “That’s the way it’s been all season. Kathryn and Jane set the pace early. Our defense has been nails. No matter what our defense is solid. Sometimes we’re not making shots, but our defense keeps us in games.”
The defense will be tested against a talented Del Oro team in Tuesday’s quarterfinal at 1 p.m. at Tokay High.
“It should be a good matchup,” Gentry said. “I think we’re pretty even teams.”
Sun-Star staff writer Shawn Jansen can be reached at (209) 385-2462 or sjansen@mercedsunstar.com.
This story was originally published November 8, 2014 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Merced girls open playoffs with win."