Sierra takes down Vaqueros in state semifinal, 10-6
Grace O’Callaghan scored four goals on Friday morning and Sierra was efficient on the power play in a 10-6 semifinal win over SBCC in the CCCAA Women’s Water Polo State Championships at West Valley College.
Grace O'Callaghan scored four goals on Friday morning and Sierra was efficient on the power play in a 10-6 semifinal win over SBCC in the CCCAA Women's Water Polo State Championships at West Valley College.
The Wolverines (28-2), the No. 1 seed from the North, were 4-for-6 on the power play while the Vaqueros (30-4), the No. 2 entry from the South, were just 1-9. Sierra is making its second straight trip to the state final. The Vaqueros edged the Wolverines 8-6 in last year's final and beat them 8-4 a month ago in the Long Beach semifinals.
Emma Fraser had two goals and four steals for Santa Barbara, which lost back-to-back games for the first time in more than three years. The Vaqueros are 94-9 the past three seasons with a state championship and a state runner-up finish.
Sarah Parson, Fraser and Alyssa Russell-Sadoff scored in the first period to give the Vaqueros a 3-2 lead. Sierra tallied the only three goals of the second quarter in a span of 3:16 to take a 5-3 lead at the half.
Fraser took a pass from Kemi Dijkstra and drilled a goal off the post from 8 meters to pull the Vaqueros within one, 5-4, at 3:11 of the third quarter. But Shanti Reisinger and Hannah Perry responded with scores in the last 2:48 and Sierra took a 7-4 lead into the final quarter.
Sierra's Danielle Brown, one of the top goalies in the state, was tough throughout the game, making 11 saves, including four in the fourth quarter.
Dijkstra had a goal and three assists. Nicole Poulos made eight saves and had three steals. Russell-Sadoff and Kelee Shimizu both had three steals for SBCC, which is making its third straight appearance in the State Final 4.
The Vaqueros will play San Joaquin Delta (21-11) in the third-place game on Saturday at 8 a.m. Top-seeded Fullerton edged San Joaquin Delta 13-12 in overtime in the second semifinal. SBCC has beaten the Mustangs twice this year by scores of 10-6 and 15-6.