Photograph by Paul Myers

Saratoga's Claire Koen (right) gets position on Willow Glen's Katie Morrow in the race for the ball in the first round of the CCS water polo playoffs. The Falcons beat the Rams 10-6, but they lost 7-4 to St. Francis a game later.




Falcons split CCS polo games

By Dick Sparrer

It was a good start, but a not-so-great finish for the Saratoga girls water polo team at the Central Coast Section playoffs last week.

The Falcons opened the playoffs in impressive fashion, outscoring Willow Glen 5-2 in the first half and rolling from there to a 10-6 victory over the Rams.

But Saratoga faced a rather disappointing finish against No. 1 seed St. Francis. The Falcons played the Lancers tough for a half, going in deadlocked 3-3 at intermission. But St. Francis outscored Saratoga 4-1 in the second half to pull out a 7-4 victory.

The loss ended the season for the Falcons, but what a year they had, posting a 20-12 season record.

Courtney Crase was the scoring leader for Saratoga in the playoffs, just as she had been for much of the year.

Crase pitched in six goals in the two CCS games, drilling a team-high four goals in the win over the Rams and adding two goals against the Lancers.

Heide Cruikshank shared team-high scoring honors for the Falcons with four goals against Willow Glen. Sarah Evans supported with two goals.

The Falcons jumped out to a lopsided 4-1 first-period lead against the Rams. Saratoga matched Willow Glen's goal in the second quarter to go in at the half leading 5-2, then matched the Rams' three goals in the third. The Falcons clinched the win by topping Willow Glen 2-1 in the fourth.

Saratoga got off to a great start against the Lancers, moving out in front 2-1 in the first period. But the Lancers tied it 3-3 by the half, then took a 5-3 lead in the third. St. Francis outscored Saratoga 2-1 in the final period to clinch the 7-4 win.

Crase led the Falcons with two goals against the Lancers. Evans and Cristina Behrens added a goal apiece.

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