Girls Water Polo: Fourth Quarter Determines Outcome as Titans Defeat Broncos

In a back and forth game Thursday, the Poway and Rancho Bernardo high schools' girls water polo teams exchanged goals through the first three quarters before the Titans finally pulled away for an 8-5 victory over their Palomar League rivals.

“It was a lot closer than we would have liked it to be,” Poway coach Chad Aronen said. “But I had confidence that we could finish the game strong.”

RB opened the scoring as Emma Sasson got the first of her three goals with a long-range shot past a diving Natalie Averell to give the Broncos their first and only lead of the game.

Two minutes later, the Titans’ Kelsie Telson put Poway on the board off of a nice assist by Marissa Papet.

With less than a minute to go in the quarter, Poway captain Tori Long swam past the RB defense and tossed home an unassisted goal to put Poway on top 2-1.

The Broncos tied it back up quickly. With just 12 seconds left in the period, Sasson scored again from the outside, tying the score.

The second quarter was more of the same. The teams exchanged goals before Long put the Titans up at the half 4-3 with a powerful shot into the side netting.

“We played confident and composed,” Broncos coach Fred Gleason said. “I told the team that this is where we wanted to be heading into the second half.”

The Broncos' Tania Moshirian scored her first of two goals off a well-placed lob shot over the outstretched arms of Averell to tie the score at 4-4 as the third period opened, but the momentum was short-lived.

Poway began to put the pressure on and the game started to turn once RB’s top defender, Taylor Laureno, was ejected after her third foul of the game.

“We used the counterattack most of the game and tried to tire Poway out,” Moshirian said. “Seemed like it was working until we lost Taylor.”

Before the end of the third period, Poway took back the lead 5-4 on a skip shot from Anna O’Connell, the first of her two goals.

RB was never able to recover. The final period was all Titans. Three straight goals, including Long’s third and fourth of the night, produced an 8-4 lead and secured the victory for Poway despite a late goal by the Broncos.

“It’s always a good day when we beat RB. We had the will to win in this game,” Long said. “This gives [us] a running start as we head into the playoffs.”

Poway improves its league record to 7-3 as the Titans complete the season sweep over RB. Both teams are expected to make the playoffs and could find themselves meeting for a third time.