The Santa Rosa Junior College water polo team lost their last home game of the season yesterday after a 9-19 beating from the Sierra Wolverines.
The Bear Cubs continued the narrative of a struggling defense. Multiple injuries to starters including their goalie left Santa Rosa going into the game handicapped.
It was not surprising to see SRJC go down 1-8 to Sierra after the first quarter. Being ranked #3 in NorCal, the Wolverines proved too much of a powerhouse for Santa Rosa. Not much was expected from the Bear Cubs being short-handed on defense.
“We’re a bit depleted, but that shouldn’t be an excuse, we just have to play better,” said head coach Joey Doyle.
The Bear Cubs didn’t help themselves much. Though they tried their best, their disadvantaged defense put them in an even deeper pit of deficit. Starting in the second quarter, the Bear Cubs allowed an immediate 2 scores that forced a timeout from Doyle to stop the bleeding.
Santa Rosa was lost, left looking for answers. They found a few high spots in the following possessions, but not many.
With three minutes left in the half, SRJC had a defensive possession that reminded the crowd what they were capable of. Tight coverage from every player on the Bear Cubs forced Sierra to take an errant shot that bounced from the goal straight into a Santa Rosa forward’s hand.
A fast break opportunity was ripe for the picking and the Bear Cubs capitalized. The ball was pushed forward to Santa Rosa’s utility player Mikayla Jordan. She quickly took the ball, gave a hard pump fake towards the right corner of the goal and then fired it into the opposite corner, a skillful move that would give Santa Rosa some life. It didn’t last long, unfortunately.
Sierra would follow that Bear Cub’s score with one of their own and Santa Rosa would come back to score again.
Santa Rosa’s defense couldn’t handle this type of back and forth battle and the hole they had already dug themselves was too hefty.
“On the bright side, it’s good to play top teams like Delta and Sierra who are ranked going into playoffs,” Doyle said.
Although Jordan would go on to score three straight goals for Santa Rosa, the offensive success didn’t last long.
At the end of the first half, the Bear Cubs were down 4-13.
The start of the second half was representative of the Halloween spirit just as the first looked to be. A grim start to the third quarter would have Sierra scoring four straight goals, opposed to the Santa Rosa’s two. Things weren’t looking too hot and it, unfortunately, didn’t get much better.
The fourth quarter would proceed to resemble much of what went wrong for the Bear Cubs in the previous three-quarters of play. The game would end in an unsuccessful 9-19 match.
“Our major concern is getting everyone healthy so we can make a name for ourselves in the playoffs,” Doyle said.
Santa Rosa is eager to make a run in the upcoming playoffs, more than likely achieving the #5 seed in the Norcal division.