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closeJaguars water polo team hitting their stride in pool
Emerald Ridge turns in prolific second quarter, cruising to victory against the Sumner Spartans
Shaun Scott
A second quarter surge unveiled by the Emerald Ridge Jaguars water polo team made all the difference in its 14-7 victory against the Sumner Spartans on April 23 at Rogers High School.
With Emerald Ridge clinging to a 3-2 lead at the conclusion of the first period, the Jaguars’ offensive attack caught fire in the second stanza outscoring Sumner 5-1 resulting in Emerald Ridge holding a commanding 8-3 lead at halftime.
The strong second quarter Emerald Ridge turned in was essentially the straw that broke Sumner’s back.
“We’ve improved so much as a team since the beginning of the year. I’m proud of every player. We came out ready to play,” Emerald Ridge head coach Dave McMullan said. “Sumner’s a good team and we went out there and were aggressive the whole game. We (coaching staff) told the girls before the game that we needed to win this one and that our true season started today. Getting this win is a huge, we have five games left this year and we need to win three of them to stay in the playoff hunt.”
Superb passing throughout the entire contest played a pivotal role in Emerald Ridge’s triumph, McMullan said.
“Our set up on most of goals was great. The pool at Rogers is a pretty big pool and I think that gives us a home pool advantage,” McMullan said. “We know how to work the ball around to set up opportunities to score. We were spread out wide and hit our spots.”
Emerald Ridge’s Callie Hyman scored a game-high five goals, Kate Gibson and Lauren Gonick tallied three goals apiece, Megan Turner recorded two goals and Mandi Nyland scored one goal in the victory.
Sumner’s Shelby Parkin scored a team-high six goals and Casey Bateman chipped in one goal as well for Sumner.
Sumner head coach Diana Ekstrom said she thought her team played well despite the loss against the Jaguars.
“We’re not a team with a lot of experience,” Ekstrom said. “For most of these girls it’s their first year playing water polo. We improve every game as a team.”
Ekstrom said the Spartans’ Achilles heel all year has been their play defensively.
“We need to tighten our defense up,” Ekstrom said. “We have plans of what we’re going to do out there but once we get in the game our team gets too excited and doesn’t always execute.”