Carpinteria High girls water polo pulled out a dramatic 12-11 sudden-death overtime victory over Thousand Oaks on Tuesday in Carpinteria.
“Our girls had a game plan going into the game and they executed well with the matchups that we had,” Carpinteria High head coach Russell Russo said. “The Lancers had significant firepower that required an ‘all hands on deck’ approach, and we were able to stay out of foul trouble while keeping their top shooters off the scoreboard.
“The win served as a powerful team-bonding moment early in the season.”
Thousand Oaks got out to a strong start, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the opening quarter and holding a lead at halftime.
The Warriors responded with a big third quarter to take a 7-6 lead into the fourth. The final quarter was a defensive battle, with both sides locked at a 9-9 tie at the end of regulation.
That back-and-forth continued into overtime as the two teams exchanged goals until it was tied at 11-11 to force the game into a sudden-death overtime.
In sudden death, the Carpinteria defense came up with a huge stop to set up a game-winning goal by Holliday Smith to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
Lucia Smith, Hazel Dugre and Madison Lee led the Warrior offense with a combined 11 goals, while Gwen Postma ended the day with a whopping 22 blocks.
Carpinteria High will take on Hueneme on Thursday.