Stallions suffer blowout loss to Sanger
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Madera South goalie Jatzelle Salazar blocks a Sanger shot during Tuesday’s Senior Night loss to the Apaches.
The Madera South girls water polo team has already made history this season, winning more than one league game for the first time in school history.
The Stallions were hoping to get their third win Tuesday when they hosted Sanger. The Apaches, however, cruised to a 16-2 win.
Sanger jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period, including a goal by Kai Glona in the last minute. Madera South’s Jatzelle Salazar blocked a shot in the final seconds of the period to prevent the gap from getting worse.
“[Sanger] had really great shots,” Madera South head coach Miranda Perez said. “Their positioning on where they were shooting was really good. They had good execution every time they shot the ball.”
The Apaches opened the second period with a goal by Aubrei Hartwig, making it 5-0. Madera’s Juleona Ruiz followed up with a shot on goal, but her attempt went straight at the goalkeeper. Ruiz had another chance a minute later, but the shot went wide. Following the miss, the Apaches came back with two quick goals to make it 7-0.
“We didn’t do so great covering them,” Perez said. “We let them get open on the opposite side That’s where they were getting their goals from.”
The lead continued to grow in the third period as the Apaches opened up with a goal to make it a nine-point lead. Madera South finally broke through when Jesmary Rivera followed up with a goal to make it 9-1. After Sanger responded with a goal, Vanessa Rivera then added another shot from long range for the Stallions’ second goal. The Apaches made it 11-2 in the final minute of the third period.
“We started getting comfortable moving around and they were passing the ball,” Perez said. “They were trying to really go for it.”
Sanger started the fourth period with a goal from Abby Ellis. Glona then added back-to-back goals to make it 14-2. The lead grew to 15-2 when Jade Gill found Crysta Benson for a shot from the left post. Glona scored the final point of the game to finish Sanger’s dominating performance.
