With a 6-5 lead hanging precariously in the balance, The Bishop’s School Lady Knights goalie Christina Michel made save number six on the evening count the most as she tipped the shot just out of harm’s way. The save enabled her squad to defeat the Coronado Lady Islanders for the Lady Knights’ fourth consecutive Division II CIF water polo title on Feb. 24 at La Jolla High School’s Coggan Pool.
For the first time in many post seasons, the Lady Knights did not come into the playoffs as the top seed. That honor belonged to their perennial archrival Coronado (25-7), which had given the Lady Knights their only two defeats of an otherwise perfect season.
After both teams failed to convert on their first couple of possessions, the Lady Islanders took the early lead on a goal by Katie Estrada at the 1:11 mark of the first period.
The Lady Knights would find themselves in this position all evening ” chasing instead of leading. But with a goalie like Michel in the middle of the cage, Bishop’s was never completely out of contention.
Sarah Van Norman put in the first of her two goals at 6:11 of the second period to tie the score at 1-1. But the Lady Knights would have a long way to go before they would be protecting a lead instead of chasing one.
“I was a little nervous, but I am used to this type of a game,” Michel said. “This was really a team effort because we had different girls scoring.”
The match turned extremely physical as both teams earned numerous ejections in critical situations. Neither goalie could afford to make a mistake, but it was Michel who turned in the stronger performance. She continually held off the Lady Islanders, including blocking a penalty shot and causing another to literally be intimidated wide.
Coronado retook the lead at the 5:39 mark of the second period only to see the Lady Knights come roaring back 27 seconds later to tie the score.
The Lady Islanders put some distance between themselves and the Lady Knights as they took a two-goal lead with a little more than two minutes remaining in the half.
Fortunately for the Lady Knights (29-2), a season’s worth of momentum was retrieved when Cathy White connected at the 2:26 mark of the second period to bring Bishop’s back within one at 4-3 going into the break.
“Ever since we were freshmen, we were hoping we could do this,” Michel said. “We were seeded number two, but we knew we could do it. We were just pumping each other up at the half and in the last quarter because we knew that we could come up big in the end.”
The Lady Knights were again chasing a two-goal lead when Lady Islander Molly Patrick beat Michel to give Coronado a 5-3 lead midway through the third. This would be the last time that Michel would allow a shot to get past her.
The final 11:42 belonged to the Lady Knights. Defense became the chant from the “home” crowd as Bishop’s stymied the Lady Islanders on all their remaining attempts.
Zinnea Alexander brought the Lady Knights back within one, and Van Norman, the section’s all-time scoring leader, fired a powerful shot to tie the score at 5-5 with 1:07 remaining in the third.
“I just felt like that if we could stay with them toward the end, then we could win,” said ecstatic Lady Knights coach Doug Peabody. “We knew that it was going to be tough and that if we didn’t fight until the very end we were going to have problems.
“This is an unbelievable win. This is our best win in the last four years. We were number two coming in and we had lost twice in a row coming in, and our spirits were a little down. The girls weren’t sure. To come through like this is remarkable.”
Both goalies became very stingy in the game’s last minutes, but it was Michel who made the difference.
Lady Knight Andrea Flores made her only shot of the contest count as she lofted a high arching shot over the outstretched arm of the Coronado goalie to give Bishop’s its first and only lead with just under three minutes remaining.
“This (the two losses) just pushed us more,” Michel said. “This made us work even harder than we usually would, because we, the seniors, wanted to go all four years with a title, and this feels great.”