Page 6 February 24, 2022 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Finance from page 5
Eagles from page 2
Both teams were figuring out the other in
the first quarter, and the Eagles scored first
with a lob goal by sophomore utility Emily
Ramirez over Oxnard goalie Kiana Casey 3:23
into the game.
Daphne Neilan scored the equalizer, for
Oxnard, on a shot over the outstretched arms
of Eagle goalie Kendall Donahue. Alyssa Mullane
converted a give-and-go from Stephanie
Rodriguez to give the Eagles a lead they
wouldn’t surrender.
The first quarter was tightly contested, and
the low scoring was thanks to both goalies.
Donahue saved her best game of the season
for the championship game. She blocked/saved
seven shots, including two of three penalty-shot
attempts in the first period alone. “I just tried
to do my best to stay in the right position and
watch the ball instead of the person,” she said.
Coach Ward gave her team a learning lecture
between quarters with some calming advice. “I
told them to work through the adversity and
to play the way they’re capable of playing and
not to hold back.”
El Segundo benefited from an exclusion advantage
when Ramirez and Rodriquez combined
to score another goal early in the second period.
The pair hooked up again with 5:53 remaining
in the half for a 4-1 lead. The Yellow Jackets
peppered shot after shot at Donahue, but the
freshman phenom turned away ten of those
attempts. With the Eagles leading 4-3, Avary
Torres had possession down low fighting off
to Oxnard defenders when she whirled and
rifled a shot into the net. According to Coach
Ward, that was probably the turning point in
the game. “They were showing momentum
and scored two in a row. Avary’s goal was a
huge momentum killer.”
The Eagles ramped up their looks at the
net, but their attempts ricocheted off the post
by Torres, Ramirez and Mullane. Oxnard’s
shot attempts were thwarted by Donahue,
who blocked/saved ten second-period shots,
including two back-to-back from point-blank
range in front of the cage. The Eagles increased
their lead to 7-3 with back-to-back goals from
Emily Ramirez, including a backhand with
twenty-three seconds remaining in the half.
El Segundo added three goals in the third
quarter, from Mullane, Rodriguez and Ramirez,
who scored from near the middle of the pool
to stretch their lead to 10-3. With a comfortable
seven-goal lead, Coach Ward thought her
team was celebrating too early. “We gave up
two goals late in the third that left the door
open for them to make a comeback, so we
talked about it.”
In the fourth period, El Segundo thrived on
the support of their fans. The Eagles increased
their lead with a goal from Nicole Alpert with
5:34 remaining and Emily Ramirez’s sixth
goal of the game to make it 12-5. Oxnard
made up two goals by Mia Rodriquez to cut
it to 12-7 with just over a minute remaining.
Alpert finished off the scoring for the Eagles
shortly after, and the Eagles capped off the
program’s second CIF title.
Eagle goalie Kendall Donahue made 22
blocks/saves and helped direct the offense with
her passes and cadence. She says she gets her
competitiveness from her supportive parents and
gets advice from her dad before each game,
“Be the best that you can be.”
As the team was celebrating, it was obvious
this team’s chemistry was strong. Alyssa Mullane,
who scored two goals, said her team is as
close at school as they are in the pool. “We’re
real teammates, and we all hang around together
at school, and we have a table we all sit at, at
lunch.” Emily Ramirez said this championship
was a total team effort and everybody on the
team made equal contributions.
El Segundo 26-4 advanced to the 2022 CIF
SoCal Girls Water Polo Championships and
hosted La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad) 28-3 on
Tuesday. A win sets up a match today, with
the Regional finals set for Saturday.
Girls Soccer Advances to CIF
Semi-Finals
The Eagles have advanced to the CIF Southern
Section Division 3 semi-finals with their
3-0 win over second-seeded Flintridge Prep.
Michaela Turner scored within the game’s first
minute, and Chelsie Charles and Bella Munoz
added second-half goals to propel the Eagles.
El Segundo played host to third seed Sonora
last night in the semi-final round. Should the
defending CIF-SS Division 4 champions win,
they would play Saturday in the finals for the
second consecutive season.
Baseball and
Softball Seasons Start
The high school baseball and softball teams
are back at it with their season openers in the
books and a full season’s schedule in full swing.
The baseball team played well in their opener
but fell to Palos Verdes 1-0. Brady Engelhardt
started and went five innings, allowing one run
on three hits and striking out nine.
The Eagles host Peninsula on Friday night at
6 p.m. in the opening round of the El Segundo
Stevenson Tournament. On Saturday, they’ll
host Bellflower at 6 p.m. in the second round.
The softball team started the season the
right way by hammering Harvard Westlake
20-1. Sophia Marrero and Bella Gridley led
the Eagles’ 23 hit attack by going 4-for-4.
Gridley had five RBIs and scored four times,
while Marrero had two RBIs. Bailey Douglas-
Gertsch picked up the win going three innings,
giving up one run on three hits and striking
out nine. Hailey Wantz, just a sophomore,
struck out four in her two innings of relief. •
Alyssa Mullane gets off a shot attempt against Oxnard’s Caitlyn Hilgenberg in the CIF Finals.
Emily Ramirez scored six goals in El Segundo’s 13-7 win over Oxnard in the CIF-SS Division 4 championship game.
Avary Torres (on the right) held Oxnard’s high scoring threat, Paige Taylor, scoreless in El Segundo’s CIF Finals 13-7 win.
Kendall Donahue goes high for one of her 22 block/saves in the Eagle’s 13-7 win over Oxnard in the CIF-SS Division 4 championship game.
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