AW falls to Leland in dramatic NorCal water polo semifinal

An amazing girls water polo season came to an end just one step short of the championship game for Archie Williams High. The fifth-seeded Peregrine Falcons fell 6-5 to the topseeded Leland Crusaders after watching an early lead disappear Friday during the CIF Northern California Division II semifinals.

`I talked with the seniors after the game and the girls were smiling,” Archie Williams head coach Todd Duplanty said. “They said, `that was a great game.' They enjoyed the experience. We're sorry to see season end. The girls want to keep the season going because they love each other like sisters.”

The Falcons graduate seven seniors from this year's team, but have a

young core returning next season with the experience of playoff competition under their caps.

Ingrid Wahlstrom gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead in the second quarter before the Crusaders got on the board, scoring on a 6-on-4 power play. A penalty shot by senior Loretta Hovey restored the Falcons' twogoal lead, but Leland came back to tie the game 3-3 by halftime.

Leland (22-8) flipped the pool in the second half, with all the momentum going the Crusaders' way as they jumped to a 5-3 lead. The Falcons (21-8) mounted a rally effort, but fell short as the final horn sounded.

“We had a shot to tie the game, you can't ask for anything else,” Duplanty said. “We ran the play we wanted to run, we got a great shot. Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it spins out.”

Cate Logan, Holly Hovey and Delany Fair each added to the Falcons' final tally. Goalkeeper Kaeley Sullivan had 12 saves.

Leland, which defeated Marin Academy in Tuesday's opening round, moves on to Saturday's championship game at University of the Pacifics, where the Crusaders are scheduled to face No. 2 Clovis North, a 12-4 winner over No. 3 St. Francis in Friday's early semifinal.

Girls tennis

Redwood High shut out Rocklin 7-0 in Friday's opening round of the Northern California Regional championships. In the semifinals, the North Coast Section Division I champions pushed Monta Vista of the Central Coast Section to the brink before the Giants fell 4-3.

Redwood's doubles team of Annesley Krawitt and Ella Povio placed third in the North Coast Section Division I bracket with Thursday's 6-4, 7-5 win over Amador Valley's Neha Reddy and Aditi Deshpande.

The Giants pair lost 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals to American's Charvi Metta and Kaitlyn Liu.