On Saturday, Oct. 28, the Archie Williams Girls Varsity Water Polo team retained their league title in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) finals against the Marin Academy Wildcats. An away game for the Falcons proved to be no matter as they won 13-4.
The game started off slow, with both teams fighting hard to get the early lead. Senior Loretta Hovey scored the first two opening goals of the game to give the Falcons an early lead. After an amazing defensive showing from the Falcons goalie, junior Kaeley Sullivan, the Falcons kept a clean sheet on defense leading 2-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Falcons continued to play well into the second quarter with senior Delaney Fair scoring two goals early. With a few minutes left in the half, the Wildcats got on the board with back-to-back goals making the score 4-2. Junior Avery Hinkelman got her name on the scoresheet, with her first goal of the morning. The second quarter ended with the Falcons leading 5-3.
“Our energy coming off our Redwood win really helped us have confidence and bring positive energy into the pool today,” Loretta said.“Our strength was how we played as a team and worked together. It was not a one-person game, it was all of us.”
After a low-scoring first half, the third quarter was action-packed. The Falcons started off the quarter with senior Cate Logan getting her first goal of the game. Then a goal tapped in by Avery crossed from senior Isobel Samlihan gave the Falcons a commanding lead. Both teams added two goals a piece to their score, ending the quarter with the Falcons leading 10-4.
The Falcons continued to battle in the 4th quarter not allowing the Wildcats to comeback. The Falcons tacked on three more goals before it was over. The final buzzer sounded and all the girls on the team jumped in the water in celebration of their championship.
“I think we played as a team. The girls came together and executed their game plan and what we wanted to do. Our strength was our counterattacks which worked really well and we were able to find the open player. We played a pretty complete game,” said Coach Todd Duplanty.
The Falcons came out and performed well on both defense and offense. Kaeley had a strong performance, with eight saves including both of the penalty shots the Wildcats had. Avery and Cate led the team with three goals respectively and Isobel had the most assists with three.
“I’m happy with how the season went. We set out to defend our title and we did that. I’m really happy for my seven seniors. To send them out as champions is great,” Duplanty said.
