Defense steals the day for Oakdale girls water polo

Emily Bennett limped about the pool deck at the B. Bohlender Aquatic Facility at Johansen High, favoring an injured toe.

The Oakdale junior embraces the pain, just as she welcomes the heightened physicality of water polo’s postseason.

On Thursday, Bennett and the third-seeded Mustangs were a step better than No. 6 Golden Valley – even with a broken bone.

Bennett had four goals, eight steals and two assists as the two-time defending Sac-Joaquin Section Division II champions advanced to the semifinal round with an 11-4 victory over the Cougars.

The Mustangs put on a defensive clinic, racking up 17 steals, many of which turned into counterattacks. Kate Mendes had three steals, while goalie Caitlin Golding (eight saves) cleaned up anything that got through the defense.

Two days after erupting for 18 goals in a first-round victory over McNair, Golden Valley found itself in an early 6-1 hole.

“Oakdale’s defense jumped out hard on us,” Golden Valley coach Bill Gossett said. “They stopped us, got one of our players to foul out early and took us out of our game.

“Pretty much Oakdale played awesome and played their game. We weren’t physically capable of stopping their game. They were better.”

The Mustangs usually are this time of year. Oakdale improved to 17-9 this season and will face No. 2 Vintage on Tuesday at Johansen, the site of the girls’ Division I-III semifinal matches.

Vintage ousted No. 7 Merced 17-3 on Thursday.

Oakdale coach Diane Kline applauded her team’s ability to crowd the passing lane and deny Central California Conference MVP Marissa Wyan, who managed just one goal against the Mustangs’ starters.

She and Anna Neufeld finished with two apiece.

“To us, defense is what ultimately is going to win us another championship,” Kline said.

Oakdale surged to a 4-1 lead in the first period, scoring their goals in a span of 2 minutes, 23 seconds.

Bennett sparked the early run with quick hands. She intercepted a pass deep in her own end and triggered the break. Moments later, she spun off a defender on a restart, gaining inside position in front of the goal.

Bennett collected a pass from Kinsey Ollis and finished past Golden Valley goalie Skyler Cyr (seven saves, five steals).

The spin move, the body-to-body defense, even the underwater jostling – Bennett feeds off contact.

“I feel like their motion creates my motion,” she said. “I use their body to move mine. It sets me off. If I do something good, I have the adrenaline to keep going.”

Golden Valley missed a golden opportunity at the start when Wyan banged a 5-meter penalty shot off the post.

The CCC champions finish the season 19-12 with a playoff victory, an 18-5 decision over McNair. Gossett said his team was simply overmatched by the Mustangs.

“I’m very proud of the girls, but there’s a reason why they are seeded No. 3 and we were No. 6,” Gossett said. “I’m still proud of the way they played. They had a great season.”

Clare McKeon had three goals and Ollis finished with two for the Mustangs, who will face Vintage for the second time in less than a month. The Crushers beat the Mustangs 8-4 in the final of the Julian Szmidt Tournament in Napa on Oct. 24.

Oakdale lost four starters to graduation following its banner 2014 season, including three-time Bee Player of the Year Shelby Stender, but Kline believes this new-look group is starting to hit its stride.

“This year’s group is really young and really wasn’t a part of the last two seasons,” Kline said. But “we’ve created this reputation and we want to make sure we’re living up to that reputation.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 8:07 PM with the headline "Defense steals the day for Oakdale girls water polo."