A pair of teams from the 805 Santa Barbara Water Polo Club brought home medals at the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics last week at Stanford.
The 14-Under girls won the gold medal while the 12U girls squad took silver in their division.
Santa Barbara’s 14s defeated Vanguard WPC of Huntington Beach, 12-11, to take the Platinum Division title, and Charlotte Raisin was named the division MVP.
The 805 14s went undefeated in bracket play and edged perennial powerhouse SoCal Water Polo Club in the quarterfinals, 8-7.
In the semifinals, 805 rallied for a 9-5 victory over Lamorinda to earn a spot in the final against Vanguard at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center.
805 broken open a tight game in the third quarter and took a four-goal lead. The club held off a Vanguard rally and captured the title.
Coached by Cathy Neushul, Ryder Roberts, and Siena Van Alphen, the 14U gold medalists include Scarlet Akin, Lily Bordofsky, Makena Bygrave, Malaya Coleman, Shea Estabrook, Mia Fabros, Anneliese Holmes, Bethany King, Keira McAvoy, Charlotte Raisin, Margaret Watson, Lucia Yanez, and Celia Young. Megan Garner played in goal for the champions.
The 805 Santa Barbara 12U girls claimed a silver medal as they fell against Vanguard in the final, 7-5. It was their only loss in the tournament.
After winning all of their bracket games, the 12s beat SoCal, 7-5, in the quarterfinals and defeated Newport Harbor in a shootout after the teams battled to a 3-3 draw in regulation time. Santa Barbara won the shootout, 3-2, behind the stellar play of goalie Reagan Mack.
In the championship, played in Stanford’s Avery Pool, Santa Barbara fought back to draw even with Vanguard, 5-5. But Vanguard scored late goals to take a 7-5 win.
Coached by Peera Sukavivatanachai, Jamie Neushul, and Cathy Neushul, the 805 12U silver medalists include Siena Double, Josie Drabik, Juliana Horton, Talia Marshall, Jade Pattison, Peyton Rosenthal, Lucy Watson, McKenna Stuart and goalie Reagan Mack.
The A-18U girls, led by Connor Levoff and Jamie Neushul, rolled to four group-play wins. The team then suffered three tough losses, falling against Lamorinda in a shootout and then coming out on the short end of 8-7 scores against Rose Bowl and SoCal. The tean placed sixth.
The 805 A-16U girls, led by Kodi Roberts and Chris Parrish, lost their first quarterfinal game to San Diego Shores, 13-11, and then fell to Commerce, 10-9, in the evening play-in. The 16s finished fifth overall with a 10-1 blowout of Diablo Alliance.
The 805 SBWPC sent a record 13 teams to the 2022 National Junior Olympics. The club had 12U, 14U, and 16U boys teams compete in the first session. The second session included 10U girls, 10U coed (A&B), 12U girls (A&B), 14U girls, 16U girls (A&B), and 18U girls (A&B).
