Olivia Obando skipped a shot past the Harvard Westlake goalie to pull the Santa Barbara High girls water polo team within two goals of the No. 2 seed early in the third period of a CIF-SS Division 1 quarterfinal game.
Harvard Westlake responded with four unanswered goals and pulled away to a 10-3 victory, ending the Dons’ season on Saturday at the Santa Barbara pool.
The Wolverines used a suffocating press defense and the strong inside play of senior center Ayva Magna to take control of the game.
Magna and Amber Nowaczek each scored four goals for Harvard Westlake (18-8), which advances to a semifinal game against either Oaks Christian or Corona del Mar.
“We’re a pretty strong press-to-transition team,” said Harvard Westlake coach Jennifer Jamison, who formerly served as an assistant at Brown University. “We’re fast and physical, so that’s a huge part of our game.”
Harvard Westlake used its physical play to deny Santa Barbara standout Sophie Johnson from getting many touches on the ball.
“She’s a good player,” Jamison said. “We scouted and we prepared, and we knew No. 12 was their best player, so we had to make sure that we took her out of the game. I think we did a pretty good job of doing that.”
The Dons, however, were still in the game until Harvard Westlake’s four-goal outburst in the third period.
They started the second period with a good defensive stand and then drew an exclusion. The Dons converted on their 6-on-5 opportunity as Abby Webber found the back of the cage to make it a 3-2 game.
Goalie Nalani Yim made a nice one-handed block on a shot to the upper corner to keep the momentum going for the Dons.
But Harvard Westlake went back to Magana for a goal in the low post and Nowaczek scored on a power play to make it 5-2.
Santa Barbara coach Mark Walsh said his team couldn’t put all its focus on Magna because Harvard Westlake has “a lot of outstanding players.
“No. 9 (Nowaczek) and No. 10 (Caitlin Muñoz) are extremely talented and we felt they were a bigger threat, so we put our better defenders on them because they’re good perimeter players.”
Layla Syzmczak had a good look for the Dons on a power play, but her shot was blocked in the field. Another shot by Johnson on a 6-on-5 was saved by goalie Thea Pine.
“She bails us out every once in a while,” said Jamison with a laugh.
After Obando’s skip shot got past Pine, Muñoz beat Yim at the near post to put the Wolverines ahead 6-3 early in the third period.
Santa Barbara earned another power play opportunity and Szymczak got off a clear shot that Pine tipped off the post.
The Wolverines fed Magna for another goal from the set position and Nowaczek followed with a pair from the perimeter, extending their lead to 9-3 at the end of the third period.
“We didn’t do a good job of bringing help when we were behind and we needed it,” said Walsh of his team’s defense. “And that was a lot of just poor communication on our part. That’s something that we’ve struggled with all year, and we didn’t get better at it. And that’s my fault as a coach for not addressing that better this season.”
The Dons missed on three good scoring opportunities in the fourth period. Pine blocked a penalty shot, a shot on a power play was blocked in the field and another penalty hit the post.
“They were much better on 6-on-5 and 5-on-6 than we were today,” said Walsh of Harvard Westlake. “I told (my team) most times you play a team about as good as you, it’s going to come down to who makes the most stops on 6-on-5s and who scores the most. And they beat us on 6-on-5 or 5-on-6 today and that’s why the gap is so big.
“They the No. 2 team in Division 1, but we’re as good as them. We just weren’t today unfortunately.”
Santa Barbara ends the season at 16-14.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.