By Jimmy Friery
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The #3-ranked Santa Barbara City College Women's Water Polo team (19-2) played three games at Saturday's SBCC Invitational hosted at Santa Barbara High School. A big test, the Vaqueros played three four-year universities, impressively going 3-0.
Unbeaten since a 7-6 loss at Riverside on September 21, the defending state champion Vaqueros were looking to continue their seven-game winning streak. Now, it's ten games.
Game one vs. Concordia University Irvine (CUI), 11-6 W
The 9:00 AM start against CUI began slowly until Addie Lane opened the scoring with a goal midway through the first quarter. SBCC's smothering defense had grabbed two steals on back-to-back possessions prior to the goal. After the goal, though, CUI countered with goals on back-to-back possessions. The Vaqueros punched back with two goals of their own—first, Maddie Myers, before Lane smartly finished on the near post in the final minute.
The second quarter was a defensive one for the first handful of minutes, much like the first, before two Lily Carrick assists within a minute padded SBCC's lead. Two breakaways allowed Cate Daland and then Sofia Paez to score, and CUI did not know what hit them. With thirty seconds before halftime, Kate Densmore saved a point-blank shot, then saved another on a 6-on-5. Unluckily for her and the Vaqueros, CUI drew a penalty with five seconds left and converted, leaving the score 5-3 SBCC at the break.
Breaking the pattern, CUI scored on the first possession of the third period, shrinking the Vaqueros' lead to one. Lane deposited a 5-meter shortly after, which CUI followed up with another goal of their own. Sofia Paez then got in on the scoring midway through the quarter, and Densmore remained solid by stopping two consecutive shots on the ensuing CUI possession. Carrick then logged a goal of her own, assisted by Lane, and SBCC went into the fourth quarter with an 8-5 advantage.
CUI had a 6-on-5 chance a few minutes into the final frame but failed to cash in. Then, Jada Ashen had a point-blank shot saved but stayed resilient, getting the ball back immediately and scoring on the second effort. A CUI goal made it 9-6 with four minutes to play. Densmore again earned a key save from a meter out, and Cate Daland put the game on ice with a great turn to get around a CUI defender and draw a penalty. Ashen slotted home from five meters, increasing the lead to 10-6. Densmore's exclamation point on her great performance was a save and then a steal that led to a breakaway for Lane, who scored to get to the final tally of 11-6.
Addie Lane led the team with 3 goals, while Jada Ashen, Sofia Paez, and Cate Daland had 2 apiece. Lane and Lily Carrick each had 2 assists.
Goalie Kate Densmore had 12 saves and led the team in steals with 6. Carrick had 5, with Ashen and Maddie Myers swiping 3 each. Myers and Daland drew 4 exclusions apiece.
Game two vs. Cal State Fullerton, 12-10 W (OT)
After a break, the Vaqueros matched up with Cal State Fullerton, with an old friend and SBCC legend donning a Titans cap. 2021 SoCal Player of the Year and 2022 state champion Eden Tal, now a senior, looked to beat her junior college program.
In a game marked by exclusions and 6-on-5s, Fullerton cashed in on one early to start the scoring. Shortly after, Lily Carrick assisted Addie Lane on the far post to tie it. On the next possession, Carrick earned a steal before passing to Cate Daland who assisted Maddie Myers, showing great early play by SBCC. After escaping a late 6-on-5 unscathed, the score would remain 2-1 into the second quarter.
Daland scored early in the second, followed by a great turn by Jada Ashen for the Vaqueros' fourth goal. Midway through the quarter, though, Fullerton would score on three straight possessions, including two 6-on-5s, to get back to 4-4. Myers would draw an exclusion and quickly score before Fullerton answered with another goal of their own. Daland ensured the Vaqueros would go into the break retaking the lead, finding the cage with 12 seconds remaining.
Leading 6-5 out of halftime, SBCC failed to take advantage of a 6-on-5 in the first possession of the third period. Fullerton essentially did the exact same thing, and Kate Densmore found Lane on a breakaway where she drew a penalty. Daland finished the possession by scoring from five meters. After a tough exclusion on Lane gave a goal to Fullerton, Myers assisted Lane shortly after for a redemptive goal—8-6 Vaqueros after three.
Again, the final quarter began with two 6-on-5s. Fullerton failed to capitalize, then SBCC earned a penalty that was ultimately not converted. Eden Tal made it 8-7 and another Fullerton goal tied it at 8 with five minutes to go. Carrick found Sofia Paez on a breakaway with 3:30 remaining to give SBCC the lead back, but Fullerton drew up a 6-on-5 play out of a timeout to make it 9-9 with under a minute left; six of Fullerton's nine goals in regulation came on 6-on-5s. To overtime, they went.
In the first of two three-minute overtime periods, Fullerton scored on the first possession to take their first lead since it was 1-0. However, head coach Chuckie Roth trusted his depth, and the Vaqueros substitutes locked in. Ava Pease scored midway through the first overtime period and Erin Otsuki followed with 20 seconds remaining to go into the short break with the Vaqueros up 11-10.
Great awareness by Densmore saved a game-tying goal on Fullerton's first possession of the second overtime period. A wide open Fullerton player on the far post would have surely scored had the Vaqueros goalie not stepped up for a steal. Then, Jaeda Crabtree similarly rose up for a huge steal to prevent a goal-scoring opportunity. With a minute left, the Vaqueros' great defense ran out the shot clock just before a Fullerton player found the back of the net—no goal. On the ensuing possession, Taylor Classen had the ball with the shot clock winding down. Instead of dumping it, she scored on a perfect long-range finesse shot over the goalie's reach as the horn sounded. In the final 30 seconds, up 12-10, SBCC had no starters in the pool except for Densmore, the lone goalie on the roster. In a full team effort where every player clutched up to contribute, the Vaqueros saw through a gutsy win over a Division-I opponent.
Cate Daland led all goalscorers with 4. Lily Carrick and Maddie Myers had 4 and 3 assists, respectively.
Defensively, six Vaqueros had multiple steals, accounting for 21 total. Addie Lane led the team with 4.
Game three vs. Biola, 11-10 W
Aiming for a three-for-three day, Biola was the final test for SBCC. However, it did not start well as multiple Vaqueros got into foul trouble very early. After surviving a 6-on-4, the Vaqueros could not escape unblemished through another 6-on-5 a few minutes in. In the final minute of the first quarter, a five-meter gave Biola a 2-0 lead. It would be just the second time all season that the Vaqueros would go scoreless in a quarter, the only other being in the fourth of a 14-0 blowout against Santa Monica.
The Vaqueros solidified their defense in the second period and did great on the counter, too. A 3-on-1 with just the goalie to beat allowed Lily Carrick to assist Maddie Myers for the Vaqueros' first goal. Shortly after, Carrick went 1-on-1 with the goalie and tied the score at 2-2. After a Biola goal, Sofia Paez got a steal, which allowed Kate Densmore to find Carrick on a breakaway to end the half at 3 apiece.
The third quarter, ironically, was a shootout. Two quick goals from Biola gave them some breathing room before Carrick assisted Myers again. Carrick then tied it with a perfect long-range shot over the goalie's reach. Then, Densmore had a double save, but the ball bounced back to the Biola shooter for a third time, where she did not miss. Addie Lane then had a great sequence with a steal and assist of a Myers goal just before two goals by Biola on consecutive possessions. Carrick assisted Myers for a third time to go into the fourth period down 8-7.
Early in the final frame, Carrick dished an assist to Addie Lane to tie. Following that, Densmore released Myers on a counter to find Jada Ashen on the far post, giving the Vaqueros their first lead of game—9-8 with five minutes remaining. Down in a 6-on-5, Erin Otsuki earned a key steal, but the Vaqueros quickly gave the ball away, which led to a Biola goal. Myers scored again with three minutes left but Biola answered immediately with another tying goal. Carrick had her fifth and final assist, this time to Sofia Paez, who scored what would be the game-winning goal with 1:49 remaining. Biola failed to score on a 6-on-5 with one minute left, after which Carrick swiped a steal to end the game 11-10 in the Vaqueros' favor.
Maddie Myers (5) and Lily Carrick (3) combined for 8 of SBCC's 11 goals. They also had 6 of the 13 steals, with Carrick grabbing a team-leading 4. Sofia Paez and Kate Densmore each had 2 steals, as well.
The Vaqueros look ahead to three days of games this coming week. On Wednesday, they travel south to play conference foe Ventura, where they hope to improve upon their 17-0 all-time record in the matchup. After that, SBCC goes further down the coast for the Battle at the Beach tournament over the weekend, where they may have a rematch against either or both of #1-ranked Long Beach and #2-ranked Riverside.
