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Sports

Temescal Canyon Captures CIF Girls Water Polo Title

In overtime play, the Titans defeat the Bonita Bearcats, 11-10.

As the only senior on a young, talented Temescal Canyon girl’s water polo team, Lauren Thatcher had to wonder if her teammates would even think about her once she graduates. Would they remember her?

Yes, every time they look at their CIF championship banner.

Thatcher scored four goals to lead the Titans to an 11-10 overtime victory over Bonita in the CIF Division 5 water polo final Saturday at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatic Center in Irvine.

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At the end of regulation, the score was tied 9-9.

Overtime play is two periods of three minutes each; in the first overtime period, Temescal Canyon scored early for a 10-9 lead.

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That score held, but in the second overtime period both teams battled. The Titans increased their lead to 11-9 near the end of the period, but the Bearcats also added one more point.

In the end, it wasn't enough for Bonita.

“They just threw it out of bounds,” Ashtynn Nelson said regarding some last-minute action. “I can’t believe that happened. I was just so excited that that happened for us.”

Nelson had key late scores for the Titans, including the final goal in regulation play to send the game into overtime.

The Titans (26-5) certainly were on a journey. They worked their way through the CIF playoffs after entering as the No. 1 team from the Sunbelt League. Their goal was first to get to the finals, then to win. Along the way, the second-seeded Titans won matches against Burbank (20-5), Hacienda Heights Los Altos (8-6), and Crescenta Valley (10-9).

The team was especially excited for its lone senior, Thatcher.

The Bearcats, champions from the Hacienda League, reeled off playoff wins against Jurupa Valley (18-1), Pasadena (8-4), and upset the Division’s No. 1 seed, Redlands East Valley (9-8).

The Bearcats dominance in post-season play was evident again during the first period of today's match-up. The Bearcats (19-9) came out quick with a 3-0 run, which led Titans coach Damien Andrews to take time to calm his young team.

“We just brought them in, called a timeout, and told them to relax a little bit,” Andrews said. “We’d been telling them since the beginning of playoffs that we aren’t going to do anything different. We are who we are. We’ll just play to our strengths and do what we know we can do. And that’s what we did.”

Key to their success was their team defense, Andrews said, pointing to a couple of key steals by Dannielle Wenzel. A defensive switch that had Thatcher on Bonita ace Ambyr Stewart shut her down from scoring late in the game.

“I thought our defense really turned it around,” Andrews said. “Especially in that overtime period we got the stops that we needed to get.

“I’ve been preaching defense to my girls all year long," Andrews continued. "The last thing I said to them before they got in the pool was, ‘You’re going to win this game with defense.’ They listened, so this is nice.”

Sammi Murphy was big on the counter attack, Andrews said, and goalkeeper Lina Medeiros has been outstanding in the cage all year long.

“When you have a great goalie, your defense plays that much better,” Andrews said.

“Lina is an amazing goalie,” Nelson added.

“Now we’re just going to go and enjoy the moment!” said the jubilant Andrews, along with assistants Katelyn Janke and Brendan Barrow -- all of them freshly soaked from a push into the pool by Titans players.

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