Coyotes almost shuts out Pates
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Anthony Campos shoots on goal in a 10-2 victory Wednesday over Hoover. Campos led the Coyotes with five goals.
The Madera Coyote boys water polo team came four minutes away from posting a rare shutout and came away with a 10-2 victory at McAlister Pool.
Goalie P.J. Ornelas recorded seven blocks, including six in the second half to pace the Coyotes to the Wednesday win over Hoover-Fresno.
“I have a young team, relatively,” head coach Rick Martines said. “The guys that have been playing were junior varsity players. The only returning player is Austin Wade. P.J. is basically a veteran. He has played in the field for two years and he took up goalie because we didn’t have one. He is doing a phenomenal job. He has legs for days. His blocks are huge.”
Anthony Campos led the Coyotes with five goals. Austin Wade added three and Conner Huber scored two more.
“They are realizing the importance of trusting one another,” Martines said. “They are hanging out in school and are becoming a unit where they are trusting each other. I have equal guys putting in goals. Austin wasn’t the leading scorer, but he was a playmaker. The guys are working with each other and it’s paying off. As long as we stay from injury and sickness, this will be a good season for us.”
Madera got the scoring started with five minutes left in the first period. Madera got the man-up advantage and Huber got the ball on the right side and scored inside the near post.
A minute-and-a-half later, Huber scored, again, inside the near post on the right side.
A minute later, Ornelas blocked a rebound shot from Hoover and threw a long pass to an open Wade. Wade finished the fast break with a goal with 2:17 left in the first period.
With a minute left in the first period, Campos got the ball on the left and scored inside the near post for a 4-0 lead.
Off a pass from Jordon Martinez, Campos scored in the middle for a goal with four minutes left in the second quarter. With 1:29 left in the half, Campos scored from about seven-meters out into the upper left corner.
On a breakaway near the end of the half, Campos got a breakaway, stopped from about seven-meters out and hit the upper left corner for a 7-0 lead with 0.6 seconds left in the half.
The second half opened with Ornelas showing off his skills in goal with five blocks in the first four minutes of the third quarter.
Ernesto Solis found Wade in front with a goal with 2:39 left in the quarter. Ornelas made two more blocks before the end of the period.
Wade did spin-a-rama move with the ball to get away from a defender after getting a pass from Huber in the fourth quarter. Wade completed the move with a goal for a 9-0 lead 22 seconds into the quarter.
With four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Hoover scored from about seven-meters out to break the shutout.
Campos completed the scoring on the right side, hitting a shot inside the near post for the 10-2 victory with 1:45 left in the game.
