Pirates have strong showing in the pool

The Lady Pirates water polo team made a strong showing over the weekend at the third annual Acalanes Invitational Tournament. Coach Peter Galli summed up the team's experience in Lafayette very succinctly: "It went well."

The tournament gave the Pirates an early season opportunity to see how they match up against some of the better teams in the Bay Area. "Any time you go to the East Bay the caliber of play gets a lot better," Galli said. All four of Drake's opponents competed in the North Coast Section (NCS) playoffs last year. Against such competitive opponents, Drake went two and two, bringing home tenth place in the final tournament standings. The team is 5-2 in the early season.

In their first game of the tournament on Friday evening, the Pirates drew the very tough San Ramon team that has won three NCS titles in the last ten years. The Pirates found themselves in a hole early, trailing 5-0 after the first quarter. But, they played better in the next three quarters, still falling short 10-4 in a very rough game.

In the second and third games of the weekend the Pirates rallied, beating Amador Valley 15-4. The win was especially impressive given how physical the previous San Ramon game had been. On Saturday, Drake followed one victory with another, beating Northgate High School 5-2.

Drake rounded up the tournament playing the very strong Miramonte Matadors. "It was our best game of the weekend," said Galli. The match stayed close with neither team ever leading by more than two goals. In the end, the Matadors outlasted the Pirates winning 9-7.

There were several outstanding individual performances over the weekend. Wendy Barbero played very solid in goal, recording 20 blocks in four games, as well as fueling the Pirates' counter attack with great passing. Before the season started Galli said goalkeeping would be to the success of the team. Barbero, a senior, has stepped into that role nicely. 

Additionally, Meghan Christie and Lauren Emgee stood out on the offensive end, scoring seven and six goals, respectively, over the course of the tournament.

Drake will face the very talented Marin Catholic squad at Marin Catholic on Thursday. MC cemented their status as the team to beat in MCAL with a third place finish in the Acalanes tournament this weekend.