The hard-charging Scotts Valley High School girls water polo team defeated visiting Gilroy High School 7-2 during league play Tuesday, Oct. 22.
The game was played at the San Lorenzo Valley High School pool
“We started playing better in the second half,” said goalie Hannah Freeman. “Everybody was talking and communicating very well.”
Freeman had 11 saves and three steals, blocking several shots from point blank range.
“She’s a wall,” said head coach Kurt Edwards.
The Falcons were led by Meredith Barton. The lefty scored five goals and tallied assists on the other two goals for the Falcons.
Barton opened the scoring on a breakaway with 4:47 left in the first quarter. A Gilroy player scored on the following possession, knotting the score at 1 apiece. Both teams played tough defense through the rest of the quarter, with Scotts Valley forcing several shot clock violations. In the second quarter, Barton scored on an assist from Noelle Downing and then assisted on a goal by Grace Ransler to go into the half up 3-1.
“Noelle Downing has been a quiet senior leader,” Edwards said. “She’s been very focused.”
Scotts Valley began to take charge in the second half, as Barton scored to open the half. Gilroy scored their final goal with 4:40 left in the third quarter. A highlight came when Scotts Valley forced a shot clock violation and Downing found Barton with four second left in the third quarter for a 5-2 lead.
Ransler and Barton scored in the fourth as Scotts Valley closed the game out in strong fashion.
Barton attributed the strong finish to being focused in practice and having good conditioning.
“We’ve been practicing really hard and focusing on game situations,” she said.
Scotts Valley, 6-9 overall and 5-6 in the Monterey Bay League, Pacific Division, has three league games remaining before the league tournament.
“We just hope we can take all the experiences that we have and apply them to the tournament,” Barton said.
