The reigning Peninsula Athletic League champions proved too much for the girls water polo team to handle last Wednesday, as the Dons fell 15-4 to Castilleja.
“We knew going into this that Castilleja was the No. 1 team in the division,” said junior Maria Sell. “So we knew that it would be a rough game, and we knew that we would swim a lot.”
The Gators blanked the Dons throughout the first half, outscoring them 9-0. Junior Claire Pisani and sophomore Minhee Chung both netted three goals in the half, scoring a total of six and four throughout the game, respectively.
“I think it’s fundamentally hard to keep up with another team when their offense is so put-together,” said senior Olivia Tobin.
Additionally, the Gators dominated the Dons physically, attacking one of their most predominant weaknesses.
“Their strong suit is swimming, and a lot of us don’t have a very large swim background,” said Sell. “So we got beat on counters in the beginning, so then we just felt defeated.”
Admitting that the Gators were more physical than they were used to, Tobin added, “I think that it wasn’t aggressive physicality, it was more tactical physicality.”
Tobin had chances to revive the offense throughout the second quarter with numerous scoring opportunities, but was unable to find the back of the net. One pass from Sell found her in front of the goal, as she posted up a defender, spun right and fired a shot, but was blocked by Castilleja senior goalkeeper Georgia Lewis. She also had a shot blocked by two defenders as well as having another hit the post.
The Dons found a bit of offense in the second half, as senior Vanessa Somoza put the red and black on the board with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter. Sell followed up with two goals over the next five minutes, one of which skipped under Lewis’ arms for one of the Dons’ craftiest plays of the game.
“The play that I did, it’s one that I do a lot, where I try to get the ball outside the five-meter [line],” said Sell. “My strong suit is shooting a lot, so I was able to get the ball and then I shot it low because we knew the goalie was coming up high. So that was great to get a goal, even if it was in the second half.”
After their rough outing against the defending champions, the Dons used the weekend to rework their résumé, taking home first place in the Mills Tournament.
