It was a beautiful evening as the Acalanes women took to the pool for their first home game of the season against Archie Williams. The whistle blew and sophomore sprinter Malin Stone flew off the lane line to start the game. The Falcons gained posession but senior Olivia Whipple stole the ball and took off Senior Sara Williams caught the pass from Olivia and scored the first goal of the 2025 season! The Falcons attempted to score on the next posession but were denied by junior goalie Adelyn Horciza. Archie Williams was able to get on the scoreboard, but senior Ella Del Rosario regained the lead for Acalanes with her first goal of the season to end the quarter 2-1 Acalanes.
Freshman Anika Rehn sprinted to start the second quarter, but Archie Williams came out strong and scored on the first possesion to tie up the game 2-2. The seniors took control and Olivia Whipple passed to Ella Del Rosario who sunk her second goal in the twine to regain the lead. Adelyn Horciza continued to show strength in the goal with a series of strong blocks. Freshman Jayna Guiro was a stealing machine and sent the ball up to Sara Williams who passed it to Ella who scored her third goal of the game. The Lady Dons earned their first power play of the game which lead to a laser shot from the outside by junior Finley Graff. The Falcons weren’t going down without a fight and sent one to the back of the net with only 30 seconds left in the quarter. Acalanes had possession with 5 seconds left, the whistle blew and Ella passed to Finley who caught and shot the ball from half tank. The ball sailed through the air, bounced once and flew past the goalie’s heard to give the Dons a 6-3 lead at the end of the half.
The second half started with Malin Stone winning the sprint. The ball made it down to the goal and Finley Graff passed to Ella Del Rosario who shot and scored off the side bar. The Falcons only had the ball for a second or two before Finley Graff stole the ball and sent it up to Malin Stone who passed to Lily Briones who scored her first goal of the season. Archie Williams regained some momentum and scored three in a row to bring the score to 8-6. Freshman Anika Rehn assisted Malin Stone as she sent the ball to the back of the net to end the quarter 9-6.
The final quarter of the game started with several great saves by sohphomore goalie, Lucy McShane. When Aca regained control, Malin Stone earned a 5-meter which Ella Del Rosario took and threw the ball so fast it was barely visible to the naked eye! The Acalanes defense was very impressive all game, illustrated by Lily Briones and Sara Williams who both prevented goals with epic shot blocks! Lily’s offense was also impressive with a solid drive and shot for her second goal of the game. Lucy continued her strong defense in the goal and Ella rounded out her game with another goal. The final play of the game cae from senior Sadie Hendrickson who stole the ball from the Falcons and headed down the pool, but the final buzzer sounded and the Acalanes Dons earned their first win of the season with a score of 12-6.
Next up for the Lady Dons is the Acalanes Invitational this Friday 9/5 and Saturday 9/6!
Come cheer on Acalanes at lunchtime on Friday with $5 Jamba Juice as they take on the Monte Vista Mustangs at 1pm and return at 4pm to see the Dons battle the Clovis North Broncos.
The tournament continues on Saturday for another full day of water polo and free admission for Acalanes students