Water Dawgs beat Cougars on Senior Night
By Joe Naiman
Senior Night for Ramona High School’s girls water polo team on Jan. 29 ended in a 14-4 victory for the Bulldogs who were playing against Escondido High School.
The non-league match was the final home game of the 2013-2014 season for Ramona’s water polo team.
“It went well,” said coach Donnie Williams.
Ramona’s seniors scored all of the goals over the Cougars. Williams gave some of his senior non-starters playing time to begin the game.
“We got a little bit behind in the first quarter,” Williams said.
The Cougars scored the first goal before Ramona tied the score. Escondido took a 2-1 lead, although a Ramona goal created a 2-2 deadlock at the end of the first period.
Escondido next scored in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs had a 9-2 halftime lead and a 13-2 cushion after three periods.
Ramona’s fourth-quarter goal was also the first varsity goal for senior Teresa Leon. Paulina Bernd led the Bulldogs with seven goals. Cassie Bernas placed four shots into the net. Holly Smith and Jocelyn Schwegler each scored once.
Senior goalkeeper Morgan Wallace only needed to make saves, although she shared the team lead with two assists that led to counterattack goals. Junior Daniella Talento was Ramona’s other player with two assists. Bernas led the team with five steals, Schwegler recorded four steals, and Bernd added three steals. Junior Serena Lopez had one steal and one shot block.
“We did some good things,” Williams said.
“There was a team effort to try to make it happen,” Williams said. “They’re all trying to play together.”
Williams noted that the Bulldogs were able to maintain a half-court tempo against Escondido.
“They were able to execute fairly well with that,” he said.
Ramona’s other seniors are Ashlee Holabird, Logan Johnson, Holly Fletcher, and Josie Ward. The 10 seniors are the most Williams has ever had on his roster.
“We’re losing a lot,” he said. “But I think we’ve got a lot of young girls coming up.”
Ramona had a 13-5 record after the win over Escondido, including a 2-0 mark in Valley League competition. The Bulldogs close out league play Feb. 12 at Del Norte after concluding the San Diego Open tournament Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7 and 8.