The562’s coverage of water polo & swimming is sponsored by the Aquatic Capital of America Foundation.
The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2022-23 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
The moment wasn’t too big for Millikan girls’ water polo on Wednesday night at Long Beach City College. The Rams emphatically made school history by beating Dana Hills 15-6 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 semifinals to earn a spot in their first ever CIF championship game
Millikan will face Murrieta Valley in the Division 2 final on Saturday.
“They were fired up,” Millikan coach Jose Guzman said. “They’ve worked so hard and I’m so proud of them. They want it really bad and you can see it. It’s pretty cool to coach a team like that.”
Jennine Osorio scored a game-high four goals for Millikan while four other Rams scored multiple goals.
“It was nerve-racking coming into a semifinal that we’ve never been to before,” Osorio said. “We always want to give everybody equal opportunity so us driving and constantly looking for another pass is just going to make us score more.”
The Millikan defense and goalkeeper Avery Reyes kept Dana Hills off the scoreboard until late in the second quarter, and the Rams led 8-2 at halftime. Reyes finished with nine saves.
“We were going to keep a high press in the lanes because that caters to my skill,” Reyes said. “That’s what we do best and we really delivered on that and I’m really proud of us.”
Guzman and his team haven’t been talking a lot about making school history, but they’re aware of what’s at stake.
“It’s a big deal for us but we’re just playing another big tournament and that’s fun,” Guzman said. “That’s why they’re playing so well because they’re having a good time. We’re trying to represent Long Beach.”
Millikan opened the semifinal with goals from distance from Larsen Jensen and Lindsay Arbing. Avery Jensen, Faye Garcia and Leila Darby also scored in the first half as five different players gave the Rams a 5-0 lead after the first quarter.
“We’re trying to be like a Swiss Army knife with different attacks and different ways to do things,” Guzman said. “We watched a lot of tape and matched up really well. Everybody stepped up and contributed. It’s so awesome to see them all flourish.”
In the second quarter, Jorja Neumann fed Darby with a cross-pool pass for a goal, and then Arbing did the same for Osorio. At the other end of the pool, Osorio shut down Dana Hills’ top offensive options while coming up with a handful of steals.
“I do have a lot more fun playing defense,” Osorio said. “It’s more physical and I enjoy the physicality of the game… We’ve got to keep having fun like that. Ultimately you see us smiling throughout the game and that’s how we show them we’re there to play.”
Dana Hills found some rhythm in the second half, but Millikan seemed to have an answer to every one of the Dolphins goals. Avery Jensen scored a hat trick for the Rams while Darby, Arbing and Garcia each scored twice. Larsen Jensen finished with a game-high three assists.
Millikan knows it has to maintain that balanced attack to win its first ever CIF championship on Saturday.
“I think I can just chalk it up to our chemistry as a team,” Reyes said. “We’re really close and I think it’s really rare what we have as a team. Our ability to go to practice every day and work hard for each other really amps up our game.”
Stay tuned to The562.org for information concerning time and place for the CIF championship.
