Girls Water Polo: Fourth Quarter Determines Outcome as Titans Defeat Broncos

In a back and forth game Thursday, the Poway and Rancho Bernardo high schools' girls water polo teams exchanged goals through the first three quarters before the Titans finally pulled away for the 8-5 victory over their Palomar League rivals.

“It was a lot closer than we would have liked it to be,” Poway coach Chad Aronen said. “But I had confidence that we could finish the game strong.”

RB started off the scoring early as Emma Sasson got her first of three goals with a long range shot past a diving Natalie Averell to put the Broncos up 1-0 and give RB their first and only lead of the game.

Two minutes later, the Titans’ Kelsie Telson put Poway on the board off of a nice assist by Marissa Papet.

With less than a minute to go in the quarter, Poway captain Tori Long swam past the RB defense and took the shot herself for the unassisted goal to put Poway on top 2-1.

The Broncos tied it back up quickly.

With just 12 seconds left before the first break, Sasson scored another shot from the outside, tying the score at two apiece.

The second quarter was more of the same. The teams exchanged goals before Long put the Titans up at the half 4-3 with a powerful shot into the side netting.

“We played confident and composed,” Broncos coach Fred Gleason said. “I told the team that this is where we wanted to be heading into the second half.”

The Broncos gained some momentum to start off the third as Tania Moshirian got her first of two goals from a well-placed lob shot over the outstretched arms of Averell to tie the score at 4-4, but the energy was short-lived.

Poway began to put the pressure on and the game started to turn once RB’s top defender, Taylor Laureno, was ejected after her third foul of the game.

“We used the counterattack most of the game and tried to tire Poway out,” Moshirian said. “Seemed like it was working until we lost Taylor.”

Before the end of the third, Poway took back the lead on a skip shot from Anna O’Connell for her first of two goals, taking a one goal advantage into the fourth.

RB was not able to recover as the final period was all Titans.

Poway went on to score three straight goals, including Long’s third and fourth goals of the night, bringing the score to 8-4 and putting the game out of reach for the Broncos.

RB would score one more time in the game, but it was too late to mount the comeback.

“It’s always a good day when we beat RB. We had the will to win in this game,” Long said. “This gives [us] a running start as we head into the playoffs.”

Poway improves their league record to 7-3 as they complete the season sweep over RB. Both teams are still expected to make the playoffs, and could find themselves meeting for a third time.