Girls Water Polo: Pas Poly’s bid for win falls short

PASADENA — Suddenly, it didn’t matter that it was cloudy or that the weather obscured the panoramic view of the San Gabriel mountains.

The chilly weather also wasn’t to blame for the goose bumps. This time, it was the resurgent effort and excitement in the pool that found its way into the stands.

Almost as electrifying as the ending was the near comeback from the Pasadena Poly girls water polo team. But Ali Don’s goal with 46.9 seconds left in sudden death propelled La Salle to an 8-7 victory Wednesday afternoon in the Prep League finale.

The Lancers (17-12, 9-3) victory forced a two-way tie for second with the Panthers (13-6, 9-3), but La Salle will be the league’s No. 2 representative after winning the coin toss that took place immediately after the match. Poly will place third.

Despite the loss, Pasadena Poly fans were treated to a match with high emotions and plenty of scoring.

The drama unfolded in the fourth quarter, with the Panthers trailing by four goals. Kelsey Williams started the comeback with a floater from 15 meters out to close the gap to 6-3 with 4:32 left. Liza Starr then made it 6-4 with 2:28 left, but it was Megan Latta’s girl-on-a-mission attitude that really heated things up.

Latta scored from point-blank range with 35 seconds left to pull the Panthers within one, 6-5. Then, after the Lancers were called for a foul, Latta raced to the other side of the pool and timed a well-placed shot over La Salle keeper Lydia Kerns to knot the score, 6-6, with 17 seconds remaining.

The match went into overtime and the Panthers took a 7-6 lead, courtesy of Olivia Russak. Don countered from 9 meters out to tie the score, 7-7.

Each team had a chance to break the tie in overtime, with numerous shots hitting the crossbar or going inches wide.

Don finished with four goals to lead all scorers. Russak and Latta finished with two goals apiece for the Panthers.

Poly won the first meeting — also in sudden death — 10-9.

But not this time.

“It’s always tough to lose a hard-fought game,” Panthers coach Ryan Katsuyama said. “We were down four goals and for my girls to come back and fight back, I’m proud of them for doing that. It was a great game, not just for the players, the coaches, but also the fans.”

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