Water Dawgs split against Patriots, Sundevils

Ramona High School’s girls water polo team had road matches against the Valley League’s two extremes last week.

The Bulldogs took an 8-1 victory over Orange Glen on Jan. 26 while losing 12-3 to the Sundevils ion Jan. 29.

Orange Glen has positioned itself for the Valley League cellar while Mount Carmel has built a reputation as the league’s strongest team.

“It’s a completely different mindset,” Ramona coach Donnie Williams said of playing against the two extremes in consecutive games.

The Orange Glen win, which took place at Escondido’s Washington Park pool, allowed Ramona to work on play execution.

“We tried to work a lot of our offense,” Williams said.

The Bulldogs scored both first-quarter goals and led 4-0 at halftime. The Patriots’ only goal was scored in the third period.

Ramona goalkeeper Shenoa Wilcox had more steals than saves.

“Not a whole lot of pressure,” Williams said.

Wilcox made two saves while preventing additional shots with her three steals. Rebecca Van Tol led the Bulldog offense with four goals while Kayla Lawlor, Savannah Mills, Brianna Hogervorst, and Angelina Uriostegui each placed one ball into the net.

Although Mount Carmel is in the Valley League, the Sundevils are in Division I—and they are considered to be among the top four teams in Division I.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Williams said. “We were just trying to minimize the scoring against us.”

The Sundevils scored four times in the first quarter and nine times overall in the first half while holding Ramona scoreless until the third quarter.

“We didn’t have an answer for it,” Williams said.

Shelby Wilson scored Ramona’s first goal on a third-quarter penalty shot and added a goal later in the game. Taylor Shinnick had Ramona’s other goal.

The two games gave Ramona a 4-4 Valley League record and a 9-11 overall mark for the 2009-10 season.