The Acalanes Women’s Water Polo team headed to Davis the second annual Heather Carr Invitational tournament. Last year, the girls went 4-0 and were hoping to do the same this year.
Acalanes vs. Rio Americano
The last time the Dons met the Rio Americano Raiders, the whole school was cheering the team on at the Acalanes Invitational. The Davis crowd was a bit more subdued on Friday, but the Dons sprinted their way to the first possession thanks to sophomore Jayna Guiro. The Raiders snagged the ball back and scored first to give Rio a 1-0 lead. On the next possession, senior Finley Graff earned an exclusion and then capitalized on the power play to tie the game one a piece. Jayna had a series of steals followed by her own goal to give Acalanes the first lead of the game, 2-1. Rio took the ball down to their goal, but a smart ball under play by sophomore Elinor Chen got the ball back and one more earned exclusion ended the quarter with a 5m penalty shot taken by Finley Graff to give the Dons a 3-1 lead at the quarter.
The Dons found their groove in the second quarter. Jayna won the sprint and Maddy Maurer scored the first one for Acalanes. Junior Kylie Kaplan had a great steal and then stuck the ball in the twine to add one more tally for the Dons. Finley Graff had a steal to found the back of the cage twice before the end of the quarter to give Acalanes a 7-2 lead.
The third quarter started with another speedy sprint from Jayna. The Dons got the ball down the pool and Elinor Chen scored her first and second goals of the game to give the Dons a 9-2 lead at the quarter. Great defense by the Dons plus great saves by senior goalie, Adelyn Horciza, kept the Raiders scoreless for Q3. The final quarter looked more like a swim meet with steal from sophomore Lucy Kerr and junior Lily Teicher. Kylie scored once more for the Dons and the Raiders snuck one more in as well, but when the final buzzer rang, the Dons took the 10-4 win.
Acalanes vs. Clovis
The Dons knew this game would be tough and it was a battle the first quarter. Jayna won the sprint but a few offensives and a kickout led to Clovis scoring first. Elinor Chen got right to work and got Acalanes on the scoreboard with a beautiful corner shot. Back to back steals by junior Lily Briones and freshman Althea Topp gave the Dons the ball and Finley Graff was able to stick one in the twine to take the lead 2-1 at the end of the quarter.
Quarter 2 started off with a great sprint by Maddy Maurer. The Dons got the ball and Althea Topp found the back of the cage. Adelyn Horciza was a machine as she blocked everything Clovis gave her. Finley Graff added one to give the Dons a 4-1 lead at the end of the quarter. Clovis came back from halftime ready to go and scored three times in a row to tie the game 4-4! Acalanes regrouped and had their own scoring spree with goals from Finley, Lily Briones, and Lucy Kerr to regain the lead 7-5. Acalanes was fired up in Q4 and Jayna got the ball on the sprint, passed to Elinor, swam in and received the ball back from Elinor to score! She wasn’t done and on the next play, she lined up her shot and stuck the ball inthe twine to increase their lead to 9-5. Clovis wasn’t done and found the back of the net twice more, but Lily Briones and Finley Graff each scored before the time ran out to give the Dons an 11-8 victory!
Acalanes vs. Clovis West
The Dons were back at the pool at 9am on Saturday morning to take on the Clovis West Golden Eagles. Jayna continued to rock the sprint and Lucy Kerr was the first one to score to give Acalanes a 1-0 lead. Lucy showed strong defense and smart playing with a nice steal to get the ball back for the Dons. Finley Graff sent the ball down to Lily Briones who scored a great goal from the center. Goalie Adelyn Horciza show her strength in the cage with unbelievable blocks. The quarter went to the Dons with a 2-0 lead at the buzzer. Sprinting machine Jayna continued to win the sprints and Kylie was back at it with another tally for the Dons. The Golden Eagles scored twice before the end of the quarter bringing the score to 3-2 at the half.
The Dons got their groove back in Q3 with a quick goal from Elinor Chen. Lucy Kerr snagged the next ball and passed it up to Lily Briones who sunk one in the twine. The Golden Eagles gained possession but Finley Graff stole the ball, sent it up to Maddy Maurer, who passed it to Elinor for another goal! The Eagles had the ball but couldn’t convert thanks to a steal from Maddy to Finley for one more. Clovis West called a time out and set up a play but it didn’t pan out and Finley found the back of the cage once again to give the Dons an 8-2 lead. The final play by the Eagles didn’t plan on Adelyn making back to back blocks and denying them a goal to end the quarter. Clovis West battled back in Q4, with 4 goals, but Finley and Kylie made sure the Dons stayed ahead by adding three more tallies on the scorebaord to take the 11-6 win.
Acalanes vs. Robert Lewis Stevenson
The Dons were 3-0 and only one game stood between them and HOCO…the Robert Lewis Stevenson Pirates! The girls were excited and Jayna flew off the lane line to take sprint #1. A turnover gave RLS the ball, but Finley Graff stole it back and earned an exclusion and scored to get the Dons on the board. Adelyn Horciza wasn’t letting anything near her cage and Althea Topp had the next steal of the game which was sent down to the cage to Finley who stuck another in the twine. The Pirates got the ball down to their cage, but couldn’t convert. A few trips down and back and Kylie Kaplan earned an exclusion which gave Finley the opportunity to earn a hat trick and end the quarter 3-1. Q2 started with some confusion when the ref gave Acalanes the ball because RLS wasn’t lined up. Elinor Chen got right to work and drilled one to the back of the cage. Two more exclusions for the Pirates lead to more goals from Finley and Kylie. The final goal of the quarter came from Jayna who capitalized on a power play bringing the score 7-1 at the half.
The Dons were feeling good as they started the second half of the game. Jayna got to work and found the back of the net off the first play. Elinor scored on the next play and Maddy Maurer adde one more in the first two minutes of the quarter. RLS #8 had a great outside shot and scored two on the Dons before Althea Topp stuck one in the twine. #8 wasn’t giving up and added one more for the Pirates, but Finley and Lily Briones kept the pressure on with three more goals to end the quarter 14-5. RLS came out ready to go in Q4. They won the sprint, but Jayna snagged it back and threw it to Lucy Kerr who sent it to the back of the cage. The Pirates kept going but steals from Maddy and Emiko Kuniyoshi helped maintain Acalanes control. RLS was able to score a few more goals before the back to back blocks by sophomore goalie Gen Balfour. The Dons took the final win 15-8 and ended the weekend 4-0. The Heather Carr Memorial Invitational is set up as a series of games, rather than a tournament, there is no “winner” per say, but we are very proud of the Acalanes girls for playing great water polo against competitive teams from all over Northern California and going 4-0!
What’s Next for the Dons?
Wednesday, 9/30 – Acalanes hosts Las Lomas Knights! Varsity @6pm and JV@7pm
Thursday, 10/1 – Acalanes hosts Archbishop Mitty, JV @4:30pm and Varsity @5:30pm