Taylor, Crescenta Valley High girls’ water polo down Warren in dramatic CIF opener

PASADENA — When Crescenta Valley High’s girls’ water polo team first clashed with Warren earlier in the season at the Villa Park Classic, Falcons Coach Ricky Mulcahey remembered it being more lopsided than the four-goal margin his team won by.

That didn’t mean he expected a blowout when the teams met again in the CIF Southern Section Division IV first round Thursday.

“We knew it was gonna be a dogfight,” Mulcahey said. “We knew it was gonna come down to the wire.”

It couldn’t have been any closer, as the Falcons’ Audrey Taylor scored from the left wing off a perfect pass from Esma Dollaku with 52 seconds left to lift Crescenta Valley over visiting Warren, 9-8, at Pasadena City College.

PHOTOS: Late goal propels Crescenta Valley over Warren in CIF first-round match

The teams’ history extended beyond Crescenta Valley’s 14-10 win earlier in the season, however, as Warren defeated Crescenta Valley, 16-9, in the Division V semifinals last season.

More history awaits the Falcons, as they’ll now host second-seeded Riverside Poly at noon Saturday at PCC in the quarterfinals.

Poly defeated Warren in last year’s Division V title match a year after Poly lost to Crescenta Valley in the Division V championship.

Before its bout with Poly, Crescenta Valley (24-2), which has won 21 consecutive games, trailed Warren (9-16) by a 6-5 margin heading into the fourth quarter.

Warren, the No. 2 team out of the San Gabriel Valley League, matched its largest lead of the evening at 7-5 on a goal from Megan Henry (three goals), but the Falcons’ offense got rolling shortly thereafter.

Crescenta Valley, which won its sixth straight Pacific League title this season, scored four goals in the fourth quarter, its best output all match.

Dollaku (three goals, two assists) cut the score to 7-6 with 5:43 to go.

Taylor, who tallied a match-high five goals, then briefly tied the match at 7 off an assist from Ani Aghakhanian, but Warren’s Justine Castro (four goals) countered just 14 seconds later to retake the lead.

Dollaku then came up clutch to tie it with 2:48 left to play off an assist from Yoselin Galdamez.

Then came the game-winner, with just 52 seconds remaining, as Dollaku drew multiple defenders and sent a brilliant pass to Taylor, who fired in the deciding score.

“I just have to make the shot,” said Taylor of her thoughts just before she scored. “[The game] was nerve-wracking.”

Aghakhanian added a goal and two assists, while Brynn Fernandez had a pair of assists. Tiffany Duarte had four saves in the first half in goal for the Falcons, while Mackenzie Drewe had three in the second.

Crescenta Valley’s offense was off at the start, hitting the frame on its first two possessions.

“We missed our first couple of shots and that got us out of our rhythm,” Mulcahey said.

Meanwhile, Warren staked itself a 2-0 lead on its first two shots, its initial goal coming on the first of two five-meter scores from Castro.

Though Warren made good on its five-meter chances, it was just two of five on man-advantages, while the Falcons were two for four.

Crescenta Valley’s first score came on an Aghkhanian-to-Taylor man-advantage tally in the first quarter.

A phenomenal individual effort by Aghakhanian off a Kaitlyn Moguel assist tied the match at 2 with 2:21 to go in the first quarter.

Warren went ahead, 3-2, in the second period, before the Falcons surged back with a pair of goals, both coming off of phenomenal steals by Rachel Ward. The last was a Dollaku score off a Fernandez assist on a three-on-two breakaway with just 10 seconds left in the half.

Warren outscored Crescenta Valley, 3-1, in the third to set the stage for the nailbiting final stanza.

The match’s dramatic nature was in large contrast to the Falcons’ games of late, as they routinely blew out their league foes. But all the drama made the celebration all the better.

“Absolutely amazing,” Mulcahey said of how it felt. “That’s why I gave all my girls hugs — they deserved it.”

Said Taylor: “You never know what is gonna happen. It could’ve been our last game, but I’m happy it wasn’t.”