Girls water polo: Archie Williams hangs on for fierce playoff win against Marin Catholic

The ebb and flow of the momentum in the Wednesday night’s contest showed the game can spin on just one shot, one bounce, one goal.

Second-seeded Archie Williams held off No. 3 Marin Catholic, 9-8, in the MCAL girls water polo semifinals to secure a title shot against rival Redwood, the top seed, on Saturday.

“For our seniors, it would be a great way to end their time here, with an MCAL title,” Archie Williams coach Matt Swanson said. “All the girls have played together for so long and know each other so well, this is really special.”

The Peregrine Falcons surged to an early lead, only to see it disappear. They then went on another run in the second half only to see it cut down to the finest of margins in the final seconds of the game.

“That was all the excitement of a one-goal game,” Swanson said. “It was always in doubt. I never thought either team had the game totally under control.”

The two teams picked up right where they left off after the Falcons’ 6-5 victory over the Wildcats in sudden death overtime on October 11.

Loretta Hovey and Dundra Senadheera, who each finished with two goals, got the Falcons rolling to a 2-0 lead Wednesday. Then Avery Hinkelman, who tallied a team-best three goals, put Archie Williams ahead 3-0 with one minute left in the opening quarter.

“I told the girls after the first quarter, ‘You can do this. Don’t be scared. You can do this.’ And they rallied,” Marin Catholic coach Sophie Waldron said.

Marin Catholic clawed its way back in the game in the second quarter with goals from Claire Cassidy and Bella Kiriakis. The Falcons still held on to a 4-2 halftime lead, but the momentum was shifting.

Cassidy, Kiriakis and Emma Slaught each finished the night with two goals. Kiriakis and Slaught combined with Viv Barsotti on a three-goal run in the third quarter as the Wildcats pulled even with the Falcons, 5-5.

Swanson put his starting lineup back in the pool to stem the tide, and it worked as Senadheera scored a wild goal with 26 seconds left in the period for a 6-5 Falcons lead. Her shot from the right side bounced off the goalkeeper’s arm and off the near post to land in the back of the cage for what turned out to be the winning goal.

A determined Hinkelman broke through the Wildcat defense twice in 30 seconds for back-to-back goals in the fourth quarter and a 8-5 Archie Williams lead. After a penalty-shot goal from Slaught and a goal from the Falcons’ Ingrid Walmstrom, the score still favored Archie Williams by three goals with just under three minutes left.

Hannah Slaught pounded home a goal with two minutes left to play to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to two. The Wildcats tried to set up for another goal, but could not get in position until Cassidy broke through for a goal that bounced off the underside of the crossbar with 12 seconds.

Archie Williams didn’t give Marin Catholic a chance to take another shot, happy to take the win.

“We just ran out of time,” Waldron said. “It would be nice if we had a fifth quarter to play. Things might have been different.”