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.
While her teammates fought back tears holding their CIF runner-up plaque on Saturday afternoon at Woollett Aquatic Center, Millikan senior Jennine Osorio reminded everyone on the Rams bench that they had nothing to cry about–they’d just made history.
For the first time ever, a Millikan girls’ water polo team played for a CIF championship, and the Rams couldn’t have come any closer to glory. Ultimately, the final score wasn’t in Millikan’s favor, as they came up just short against Murrieta Valley, losing 7-6 in the Division 2 final.
Nighthawks junior goalie Jaden Soto put on a virtuoso performance, racking up 22 saves to frustrate the Millikan offense and lead Murrieta Valley to its sixth CIF girls’ water polo title.
“It’s a big accomplishment. To make history is awesome,” said Rams head coach Jose Guzman after the game. Guzman has already confirmed this would be his last season as Millikan head coach. “We’ve been through so much together that it’s awesome to see them come all the way through to this stage and play at this place. Losing by one stings, and we had a lot of opportunities, but at the end of the day, it’s gonna bring them a little closer together, so hopefully it’ll set up the stage for next year.”
Millikan got a hat trick from senior Avery Jensen, with younger sister Larsen Jensen scoring twice and senior Faye Garcia scoring the other goal for the Rams. The offense was active in getting shots up, holding a 41-21 edge over Murrieta Valley in that category, but Soto was phenomenal in the cage to deny Millikan’s long-range efforts throughout.
Murrieta Valley took a 2-0 lead in the opening quarter, getting the benefit of a questionable call on their second goal. Amy Pearce unleashed a shot just as the shot clock buzzer sounded, and was able to score on a deflection off the crossbar, which just snuck across the goal line.
Millikan was able to respond, scoring three of the next four goals to tie the score at 3-3 with a little over two minutes left in the opening half. Murrieta Valley did get back in front before the break, however, thanks to Mackenzie Wood’s second goal of the afternoon.
Jennine Osorio earned a five-meter penalty on the first possession of the second half, which Avery Jensen converted for her third goal of the day. Unfortunately for the Rams, it took them over 10 minutes to score again as Soto racked up a number of saves.
The Nighthawks, meanwhile, scored a pair of goals in the final 1:20 of the third quarter to take a 6-4 lead into the final period. Elizabeth Hernandez scored consecutive goals to end the third quarter and start the fourth, part of a decisive 3-0 run that gave Murrieta Valley a 7-4 lead with 5:50 to play.
Millikan tried desperately to get back into the game, but had a tough time finding a way past Soto in the cage. She had seven saves in the final quarter, including a key five-meter penalty save with 5:07 left to keep the lead at three.
“They had a great zone, and we knew it was coming,” said Guzman of Murrieta Valley’s defensive prowess. “And we worked on our outside shots a lot. Their goalie is really, really talented. I think if we just calmed down a little bit, I think we could have put more goals in the back of the net.”
Larsen Jensen scored a pair of goals in the fourth quarter–the second coming with just four seconds left as Millikan’s comeback efforts ran out of time.
Neither team was very effective with their man-up opportunities on Saturday, as the Nighthawks converted just one of their seven 6-on-5 chances and Millikan was 0/4.
The Rams end their season with a 21-10 overall record, as well as the first CIF plaque in program history.
