The Dos Pueblos girls water polo team had little trouble making it through Wednesday’s first round of CIF play, eliminating visiting Huntington Beach 13-5 at the Elings Aquatic Center.
Alex Hill and Kodi Hill led the Chargers in scoring with 3 goals apiece. Kiley Neushul, Amanda Redfern and Jessica Morelos all recorded two each.
The No. 2-ranked Chargers took a 9-1 halftime lead before letting up in the second half to get the reserves a good dose of playoff experience. Regulars Neushul, Morelos and Redfern had completed all their scoring by halfway point.
“I was a little bit nervous at first but once I got into the groove of it, it was fine,” said freshman Kodi Hill of her first CIF postseason match.
Kodi’s older sister, DP’s injured standout goalkeeper Sami Hill, is hoping to make a return to the cage in the Chargers’ second round game on Friday against Long Beach Wilson, which defeated Irvine 9-6.
“We are expecting (the next round) to be a lot tougher and I think we play better under that pressure,” said Morelos, who was celebrating her 18th birthday.
Huntington Beach head coach Jose Stalin Reyes agrees with Morelos’ assessment after what he saw on Wednesday and an earlier season game he saw the Chargers play against Montebello.
“I could see them going really far,” Reyes said, meaning all the way to the finals. “They have depth and they have good players. Everybody steps it up when they need to – it’s something that good teams have.”
DOS PUEBLOS 13, HUNTINGTON BEACH 5
Huntington Beach 1 0 2 2 – 5
Dos Pueblos 5 4 3 1 – 13
Goal Scorers – DP AHill 3, KHill 3, Redfern 2, Neushul 2, JMorelos 2, Van Alphen 1. HB Trella 2, D’Asaro, Towers, Katreeb.
Goalie Saves – DP Rodriguez 4, Shroeder 2, NMorelos 2.
