Huntington Beach loses late lead, falls to Riverside King
The referee remarked about it a couple of times in the second half, how the girls wearing cap No. 11 for each team appeared to be on fire.
Huntington Beach High junior girls’ water polo player Nicca Falah seemed like she couldn’t miss, scoring five goals. But it was the late play of the other No. 11 — Riverside King senior Madison Stamen — that helped lift the Wolves to an 8-7 upset victory over the host Oilers in the nonleague game Tuesday.
Stamen, bound for Stanford, scored two of her team-high four goals in the fourth quarter for King (5-1). It was her senior teammate, Cal Baptist commit Jamie Hutton, who scored the eventual game-winner with 1:28 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Wolves, ranked No. 17 in the initial CIF Southern Section Division 1 and 2 poll released Monday, finished off the upset over the No. 11 Oilers (4-3). Both teams competed last weekend in the Villa Park tournament, with Huntington Beach placing sixth and King placing ninth.
Oilers coach Mark Canner saw his team have two chances in the final minute to tie it up. The first came when senior center Maddie Bockman, a UC San Diego signee, appeared open in transition, but King goalie Alyssa Salgado ranged over to make her sixth save at the left post.
After a steal from Oilers senior goalie Marina Hyham, who had 10 saves and three steals, the Oilers had one last chance. This time, Bockman passed to junior Courtney Heydorff in front of the goal. Heydorff had inside water on her defender, but the shot went off the crossbar with about 15 seconds left, and the visitors were able to run out the clock.
Heydorff, a center defender, was the one who limited the chances of Stamen throughout the game. But Stamen had a pair of game-tying goals in the fourth quarter, one on a drive inside and the second on a penalty shot that she drew. Stamen put it in, tying the score at 7-7 with 2:04 remaining.
“I thought Courtney did a good job when she matched up on her,” Canner said. “Courtney’s obviously a high-level player, and she’s played against players like that. We had our opportunities there at the end. For us, as a young team, I think it’s just really good that we’re getting this experience playing in tight games.”
The Oilers graduated five seniors a year ago. One of them, Kali Hyham, now plays at Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa., but she was home for winter break on Tuesday. Hyham, the team’s leading scorer last year with 67 goals, did her best to encourage her former teammates throughout the game.
This year, Huntington Beach has just two seniors on the roster in Bockman and Marina Hyham, bound for Marist College in New York. Falah has taken over the role as the top scorer; she had a career-high seven goals in the Oilers’ 18-11 win over San Diego Del Norte in the Villa Park tournament on Thursday.
“She’s playing like she needs to,” Canner said. “I think she’s just stepping into that role. I think the biggest thing about her, though, is that defensively she does a lot for us.”
In Tuesday’s loss, Falah had seven steals to go along with her five goals. The last steal led to her goal from five meters, helping give Huntington Beach a 6-5 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Junior Chloe Reiner added a goal for Huntington Beach, and sophomore defender Emily Tucker made two steals.
The Oilers have another key early-season game on Thursday, when they host La Cañada at 3 p.m. La Cañada is ranked No. 16 in Division 1 and 2.
“We’re a young team, so we’re still trying to figure out how to play together,” Falah said. “But I don’t know, I think we’re learning pretty quickly. We played really well [at the Villa Park tournament]. We didn’t have that cohesiveness today, and I think that’s what hurt us, but it’s getting there. It’s the beginning of the season, so it’s obviously going to take some time.”
Twitter: @mjszabo
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