Both girls’ and boys’ water polo teams faced Acalanes on Wednesday, October 7.  While the boys’ varsity squad earned a victory, the girls’ varsity lost in overtime.

The girls’ fell behind 3-1 early. Goalie Becca Buck blocked 8 shots by the beginning of the third period and Sophomores Katie Klein, Erin Neustrom, and Sophia Cavalli all scored goals, but by the end of the third period, the Dons were leading, 6-5.

The final period began with Cavalli again winning the sprint. A goal by freshman Zoe Crouch and a penalty shot scored by junior Olivia Price put the Cougars up 7-6. However, with 50 seconds left, Acalanes scored to send the match to overtime.

Acalanes scored again with 40 seconds left in the extra period.  Although Campolindo coach Kim Everest was issued a red-card and dismissed from the game, her team continued to fight, with Crouch scoring her second goal at the beginning of the second period, tying the score at 8-8.

The Dons managed yet another late period score however, and ultimately won the match, 9-8.

The boys’ varsity game followed, and opened with the Cougars taking possession off the first sprint.

A penalty shot was blocked by Campolindo senior goalie Nikhil Suri.

Captain Cole Stevens won the sprint to start the second period, giving Campolindo possession once again. Freshman Giorgio Alessandria’s goal putthe team up 5-2 at the end of the second period.

In the third period, senior Yuri Hanley scored once and junior Wayne Hawkins twice. “Going into this game, I was really nervous. This entire week I was nervous, but once I got in the water, I felt really good and it carried on from there. It was definitely a team win,” Hawkins said.

Campolindo defeated Acalanes by a final score of 11-6. Reflecting on his team’s performance, coach Miles Price said, “We’ve lost to them twice this year. We’ve had trouble trying to play the way we want to play and trusting one another. That’s the biggest thing that we asked, and that’s the thing we changed in order to play well. We played for one another and as a team.”