Water polo roundup: Marin Academy holds off Tam for first NCS crown

Marin Academy’s evolution took a giant step forward Saturday with the program’s first North Coast Section girls water polo championship. The top-seeded Wildcats defeated MCAL foe Tam, 12-6, for the NCS Division II crown at Acalanes High.

The Wildcats rolled to a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter before the Red-tailed Hawks found their mojo to rattle off four unanswered goals in four minutes.

Wildcats stalwarts Cece Dickinson, Gabby Reichley, Hannah Reichley, and Elle Parisi powered Marin Academy to a dominating lead early.

“Tough game,” Tam coach Paul Hettler said. “Gabby Reichley is very good at the 2-meter hole set. She got on top of us in the first quarter and from there it was tough to catch up.”

Marin Academy’s defense formed a strong network in front of goalkeeper Caroline Starrett, who also turned in some athletic saves to keep Tam off the board through the first quarter. Open shots were hard to come by for Tam, which was left to shoot from the outside in the early going.

The Hawks’ Julia Ulvestad finally broke through the wall midway through the second period. Tam had found a channel to the net, and just 30 seconds later, Sabine Barringer powered the ball past Starrett for Tam’s second goal. Elle Philip and Barringer fed the momentum with two more Hawks goals before halftime.

The offense waned, but the defense stood strong in the third quarter as the teams traded goals, leaving Marin Academy with an 8-5 lead heading into the final period.

Starrett found herself under increasing fire, but rather than wither under pressure, she allowed herself to smile a little after a big save. The pressure continued to mount as the game wore on.

Tam’s Sophia Uhlhorn-Thornton, who scored on a 5-meter shot in the third period, added her second goal with 4:50 left in the game to bring the Hawks to within two of the Wildcats. Suddenly, what looked to be a blowout at the start of the game was now up for grabs. The Wildcats seized the opportunity as Hannah and Gabby Reichley scored within a minute of each other. Marin Academy got two more goals to finally close their grasp on the NCS pennant.

“We had very good second and third quarters, but ultimately our shots did not drop,” Hettler said.

Teams sent their applications last week to the CIF for the Northern California Regionals and the brackets are expected to be announced Sunday ahead of the opening round of games on Tuesday.