Dos Pueblos girls water polo kicked off its CIF-SS Div. 1 title run with an 11-6 victory over Centennial of Corona on a rainy Thursday night at Elings Aquatic Center.
The Chargers braved the storm to get the playoff started on the right foot, battling through the elements to advance to a second-round matchup with JSerra next Wednesday in Goleta.
“It was hard for me to see, but that was about it. I think the girls were fine,” Dos Pueblos head coach Chris Parrish said of the weather’s impact. “It’s water polo so they’re going to be wet anyway, it doesn’t affect them too much.
“Leading up to the game, having it be a little dreary may have brought the mood down a little bit but they showed up to play. I was a little worried, we didn’t know anything about Centennial… we came in a little bit blind and the girls adjusted really well.”
The Chargers set the tone on the defensive end, picking up a pair of steals on two of the Huskies’ first three possessions.
Dos Pueblos got the scoring started at the 5:00 mark of the first when Franki Court dished the ball to Kyra Jones, who fired from the outside and scored for the 1-0 lead.
A few minutes later, Alina King made a quick pass inside to Hana Abel, who finished it off for the goal to double the Charger lead to 2-0.
That score held until the end of the first quarter as the Dos Pueblos defense continued to apply pressure and turn away the Husky attack.
“The focus that we have for most of the season is just defense,” Parrish said. “It’s a stupid cliche but if they can’t score, we can’t lose. If we can control the tempo on the defensive end we’ll be really good.”
The Chargers began the second quarter with a breakaway opportunity where Jones found Court, who beat the goalkeeper for a goal and a 3-0 advantage.
However, Centennial responded with back-to-back goals to cut the Dos Pueblos lead to 3-2 with 5:15 left in the first half.
The Chargers then punched right back as Dev Wigo found her groove on the offensive end, scoring three goals to end the half and extend the lead to 6-2 by halftime.
Two of Wigo’s second-quarter goals came on penalty shots while the third was a crafty breakaway score where she hit the brakes and lofted a shot over the goalkeeper’s head.
“In the first period [Centennial] saw that our speed is what’s going to kill the other team,” Parrish said. “They ended up just leaving a girl on offense and we were playing five on five.
“We don’t see that often, but we were able to adjust pretty quickly.”
Dos Pueblos created more separation out of the break with two quick outside goals courtesy of Addison Parrish and Wigo to make it 8-2.
After Centennial found the back of the cage on the ensuing possession, the two sides then exchanged defensive stops.
The Chargers continued to pile on the goals at the end of the third as Wigo scored another on a breakaway and Court scored from point-blank range to take a 10-3 lead into the fourth.
“They put enough shots away, but the goalie from Centennial is really good and made some crucial blocks,” Parrish said. “She did a good job keeping them in the game. I’m just proud of the girls for finding the open player and making the easier shots.”
The start of the fourth quarter was action-packed as Court scored on a skip goal and Centennial responded 30 seconds later with a goal of its own to make it 11-4.
However, both teams then went scoreless for the next five minutes before Centennial scored a last-second goal to bring the game to its final score of 11-5.
Wigo led Dos Pueblos with five goals while Court ended with three of her own.
“The vibe is good right now,” Parrish said of his team. “When we’re playing San Marcos in the (Channel League) championship, we’re playing an Open Division team. That’s the best team we’re going to play against all year.
“We’re not going to see anyone that good in the playoffs in Division 1 so they’re optimistic and I’m optimistic going in. I think we have enough talent and enough depth to hang with any team in Division 1, so we just need to put it together for the games ahead.”