Water Dawgs open 2010 with win over Patriots, loss to Ravens
Ramona High School’s girls water polo team opened 2010 with a Jan. 6 home win over Orange Glen, following that 14-1 victory with a 7-5 loss Jan. 8 to Canyon Crest in Ramona.
“The girls are playing hard,” said Ramona coach Donnie Williams.
The win over Orange Glen saw the Bulldogs score twice in the game’s first minute. Ramona led 5-0 after the first period, and, although the Patriots scored a second-quarter goal when a Ramona penalty gave Orange Glen an extra-player advantage, the score was 7-1 at halftime.
“The game was pretty easy for us,” Williams said.
Williams told his players they needed to use the comfortable lead to work on different offenses and defenses.
“We were able to do that,” he said.
While allowing only one goal, Ramona goalie Shenoa Wilcox had to make just three saves.
“Defensively we played well,” Williams said.
Wilcox also had one steal. Angelina Uriostegui led the Bulldogs with seven steals, four of which occurred in the second quarter.
Shelby Wilson led Ramona’s offense with four goals while Marley Munoz and Taylor Shinnick scored three goals apiece. Kayla Lawlor’s two goals against the Patriots were her first as a varsity player.
The Bulldogs scored the first two goals against Canyon Crest, although the Ravens scored later in the first period to create a 2-1 score at the end of that quarter and led 4-2 a halftime. The score was 5-2 after three periods, and Ramona didn’t score again until three minutes remained in the game.
The two teams alternated the remaining four goals. Uriostegui scored all three of Ramona’s fourth-quarter goals.
“It was a close game all the way through,” Williams said. “We did a lot of things right.”
What Ramona didn’t do right included three five-meter penalty shots, two of which saw the Ravens score. Ramona players incurred seven 20-second ejection penalties, although other than the two penalty shots the Bulldogs held Canyon Crest scoreless in those extra-player situations.
Three Canyon Crest goals were on counterattacks.
“The breakdown on the counterattacks hurt us quite a lot,” Williams said. “I think we fell apart in a couple of communication situations.”