The562’s coverage of water polo & swimming is sponsored by the Aquatic Capital of America Foundation.
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013.
Prior to their quarterfinal game against Hemet on Saturday afternoon, if you had told Lakewood that they would only get one goal from star senior Brooke Baze and wouldn’t score for the entire second half, the Lancers might have thought it was time to start planning the year-end banquet.
But fortunately for Lancer Nation, the Lakewood defense came to play on Saturday at LBCC and the No. 2 seed in the CIF-SS Division 5 bracket moved on with a 5-2 win over Hemet. That is now the fifth playoff win in the last two seasons for Lakewood girls’ water polo, and gives the program its first ever semifinal appearance.
“The defensive performance was good, and that’s how they’ve been all season,” said first-year head coach Dylan Thompson of his team. “They’re locked in, they’re committed, and they want to play defense. It’s never ever been a question of effort with this team. We would’ve liked to see a few more goals, but you know what, we got more than other team and that’s what matters.”
Lakewood started out scoring the ball fairly well, putting away three goals in the first quarter. Freshman Kyley Seeds was very active in front of goal, putting away both of her goals in that opening seven minutes, while assisting on the third to Madison Gageby.
Baze was able to notch her lone tally of the afternoon at the start of the second quarter, making it 4-0 Lakewood.
Hemet found its footing by drawing a pair of penalty shots against Lakewood, which were both converted by Marley Puckett. But that’s all the Bulldogs could muster as they were held scoreless during open play.
Lakewood goalie Marley Isaacson collected 8 saves for the Lancers, with 6 coming in the first half. Gageby’s second goal of the day came with 1:15 left in the first half off an assist from Leilani Sanchez, and that proved to be the final goal of the game.
The Lancers were able to cruise after halftime and let the clock run out on Hemet. Swarming defense led by Chelsie Jimenez made it difficult for the visitors to even get shots up over the final two quarters.
Next up, Lakewood will host its third straight playoff game next Wednesday, taking on Pasadena Poly in the Division 5 semifinals.
