Coyotes swim past Patriots
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera’s Ceaira Chavira scores one of her four goals in a 17-4 rout of the Hoover Patriots.
The Madera Coyotes girls water polo team didn’t allow a first quarter shot and routed the Hoover-Fresno Patriots 17-4 at McAlister Pool.
“We make it serious and try not to overlook anything,” head coach Erik Baymiller said. “We know they are not super strong. Last year, they scored four or five goals on us. We wanted to reverse that. They scored four against us, but they were garbage goals.”
Coyote record holder for goals in a season, Jessica Diaz, led the team with five goals, but she also dished out five assists Wednesday. Eight different players scored for the Coyotes. Ceaira Chavira scored four and Sami Crenshaw and Elizabeth Lomeli added two each.
“We’ve been working on offensive tactics,” Baymiller said. “Last year we were passing without a purpose. We were looking for good passes. The big difference is we’re able to put our shots away.”
Defensively, the Coyotes didn’t allow a shot on goal in the first period. Goalie Aubry Choate recorded six blocks in the win. Two of the goals she allowed were five-meter penalty shots.
“Our defense was really good,” Baymiller said. “It’s kind of them helping. If you don’t drive and don’t move, we’re going to sit in the lanes and wait for you to pass.”
The Coyotes scored 47 seconds into the first period. Off a steal from Chavira, Crenshaw got the ball up front from Maddie McNeil. Crenshaw scored into the upper right corner for a 1-0 lead.
About a minute later, Chavira and Diaz executed a give-and-go for another goal. Chavira got the steal, passed to Diaz and Chavira got the pass back and shot into the lower right corner for the goal.
McNeil stole the ball from Hoover and scored on a breakaway for a 3-0 lead midway through the first period.
With about a minute left, Diaz scored a pair of goals about 30 seconds apart. She scored on a breakaway and then put back a Reilly Hall missed shot for a 5-0 lead.
Off a steal from Diaz, Emily Goertzen found the right corner for a 6-0 lead.
Chavira missed her first shot of the second period off the crossbar., but Diaz put the rebound in for a 7-0 lead. Twenty seconds later, Shelby Seybold scored into the near corner after a steal from Diaz.
Hoover finally scored with a long shot over Choate with four minutes left in the first half.
With three minutes left in the half, Gabby Ruiz found Diaz in front in a man-up situation for a 9-1 lead. Hoover answered by putting back a rebound for a goal.
Diaz found Chavira inside up front for a goal. With a minute left in the half, Chavira scored on a five-meter penalty shot after a Choate block. With 17 seconds left in the half, Diaz stole the ball, drove down the pool and shot into the upper left corner for a 12-2 halftime lead.
In the second half, Lomeli scored off a pass from Diaz for a 13-2 lead with 5:25 left in the third.
Hoover answered with a goal in a two-man up power play.
Madera answered 30 seconds later when Seybold found Crenshaw up top. Crenshaw found the top of the net from about eight-meters out for her first goal of the game.
Diaz scored on a steal and a breakaway for a 15-3 lead with two minutes left in the third period.
Just 17 seconds into the fourth quarter, Lomeli scored from in front. More than a minute passed before Madera closed the scoring with a goal from Ruiz.
Hoover closed the scoring with a five-meter penalty shot for the 17-4 final.
