Stallions comeback falls short
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Madera South’s Ryan Garcia sends a shot past the arm of a Yosemite defender during Tuesday’s loss to the Badgers.
Twice the Madera South Stallions boys water polo team cut Yosemite’s lead to two, but both times, the Badgers responded with goals to extend their lead in a 14-11 victory.
The Badgers scored 11 goals in the first half. However, the Stallions outscored Yosemite 6-3 in the second half to close in on the Badgers in Tuesday’s non-league match.
Samuel Garcia led the Stallions with four goals while Ryan Garcia added three more. Five different Stallions scored in the match.
The Stallions missed out on three two-man advantages. However, they scored on one two-men advantage and two other man advantages. Yosemite took advantage of its chances, scoring on three man advantages.
Yosemite scored four first quarter goals in a 3:12 span for the quick lead.
Madera South finally got on the scoreboard 18 seconds after Yosemite’s last goal. Off a foul, Ryan Garcia got the ball on the right and sent a quick shot to the far side for a 4-1 Yosemite lead.
Yosemite added two more goals in a 30 seconds span to open a 6-1 lead.
After missing on two two-man advantages, Madera South finally scored on one. With 14 seconds left in the first quarter, Garcia got the ball on the right and sent a shot into the left corner of the goal for a 6-2 Yosemite lead at the end of the first.
About a minute into the second period, Madera South got a man advantage. Justin Castro got the ball at the top. He sent a ball in front for Jared Guglielmana, who tipped the ball into the net for the goal.
After Yosemite scored a goal 13 seconds later, Madera South got a man advantage. Castro got the ball at the top and shot to the right off the Yosemite goalie for the goal and a 7-4 Badgers’ lead.
With Madera South goalie Ethan Navarro out on an ejection, Guglielmana blocked a Yosemite shot. The ball went off Samuel Garcia’s head and out of the goal.
With 3:18 left in the first half, Ryan Garcia got the ball in front on the right. He shot into the near post under the Yosemite goalie’s arm for the goal and cut the lead to 7-5.
However, Yosemite scored four goals in the final 2:45 for an 11-5 lead heading into the half.
Madera South didn’t go down quietly. They scored a pair of goals in the third quarter while holding the Badgers scoreless. Forty-seven seconds into the second half, Manuel Mora worked the ball in at the right side and shot inside the near post for a goal.
With three minutes left in the third, Ryan Garcia sent a pass to Mora at the top. Mora found Samuel Garcia in the middle, who shot through the goalie’s arm into the net to cut the lead to four.
Madera South worked the lead down to three less than a minute into the fourth quarter. Garcia drew a foul and immediately sent a pass to Castro, who sent it back to Garcia. Garcia shot over the goalie’s arm for an 11-8 Yosemite lead.
David Daggs got the ball on the right and sent the ball into the middle for Garcia. He walled off his defender and shot into the right send of the net to cut the lead to 11-9 with 4:43 left in the match.
Yosemite battled back to score two goals in a 40 second span to get the lead back to four.
Madera South kept battling. Garcia sent a pass to Castro across the pool. Castro’s shot on goal went off the goalie into the net for a 13-10 Yosemite lead.
Yosemite finished off its scoring with a goal inside the near post off a crossing pass to open a four-point lead.
Garcia worked with Daggs on ao give-and-go. When Garcia got the ball back, he hesitated and waited for the open shot. He sent a shot to the open side of the net for the goal with 1:29 left in the game.
Unfortunately, the Stallions couldn’t get a shot off in the final minute of the match for a 14-11 loss.
