Girls water polo: Archie Williams tops Tam, reclaims MCAL crown
Holly Hovey and the Peregrine Falcons reign once again as the queens of the pool after Archie Williams High regained the MCAL girls water polo crown.
“This team means so much to me,” Hovey said. “I am so proud of my team and the work we’ve put in.”
Hovey scored a game-high six goals to lead the top-seeded Peregrine Falcons to a 13-7 victory over defending champion Tam High during Saturday’s title game in San Anselmo.
“I think this game was between two very good teams and it was going to come down to who wanted it more,” Hovey said. “We really wanted to win this title.”
Archie Williams won the MCAL title in 2023 with Holly Hovey and her older sister, Loretta, who was the league MVP that year. The Falcons went on to win the North Coast Section Division I title and advanced to the NorCal Regional D-I semifinals.
The Falcons (17-8), with their adopted nickname “Chlorine Queens”, are looking to make another deep postseason run this year after losing to eventual NCS champion San Ramon Valley last season. Tam (19-7), which fell to Las Lomas in the NCS D-I semifinals last year, is also looking for another title shot, and maybe a return match against Archie Williams.
“This isn’t the end, and maybe we’ll see them again,” said Sabine Barringer, who scored a pair of goals for Tam.
The Red-tailed Hawks pulled off a second-half comeback against Marin Academy in Thursday’s semifinals, after which the players lamented their notorious slow start. After another slow start Saturday, the Red-tailed Hawks started to make their comeback, but could not sustain the run in the second half.
“We know these girls, we know them from high school water polo, and we see them in the club season, so we know how good they are,” said Tam’s Cat Philp, who put up a pair of goals.
Hovey would not be restrained Saturday as she scored the opening goal. With Tam on the attack, Hovey came up with the steal and drew a kickout to give the Peregrine Falcons a power play. A shot from Nadya Wachelka hit the near post, but Taylor Fahy was there to collect the rebound and hurl the ball just under the crossbar for the first of her two goals.
Hovey took advantage of a breakdown in the Tam defense with an outside shot that found its mark for a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
“I just worked hard, put the hard work in and it paid off,” Hovey said. “I wanted to score goals and I scored goals.”
Tam’s attack sharpened in the second quarter, outscoring the Peregrine Falcons 4-2, but Tam still trailed the entire game. Sophia Uhlhorn-Thornton got the Red-tailed Hawks on the board to start the second quarter. Philp, with her feline facepaint and perhaps still feeling the Halloween spirit, scored a power play goal to keep the run going.
But the Peregrine Falcons maintained their lead with goals from Hovey and the speedy Elsa Kastner, who finished with three goals. Barringer and Calla Palmer added power play goals before halftime to make it a one-score game.
The Peregrine Falcons came out of the break full of energy, scoring four unanswered goals against a suddenly flagging Tam defense. Sylvie Fine scored twice in the second half.
Philp, Julia Ulvestad and Barringer each found the net in the second half, but it was too little against a focused Peregrine Falcons squad.
Archie Williams goalkeeper Lulu Poser, who was not in net for Philp’s second goal after being called for a foul, stopped seven of Tam’s 31 shots. The Peregrine Falcons kept Tam goalkeeper Olivia Stemmler busy on the other end, as she came up with 11 saves on 30 shots.