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.
When the CIF State SoCal regional bracket was released on Sunday, the Millikan girls water polo team had one thing on their mind: Redemption.
The Rams’ quest to redeem their CIF-SS finals loss started on Tuesday as Millikan took care of business defeating Alta Loma, 14-9, in the first round of the CIF State SoCal Regional championship.
“We had a tough loss,” senior Jennine Osorio said about the Rams’ loss in the CIF final last Saturday. “It really motivated us when the brackets came out. The fact that we could have a second chance to redeem ourselves, I think that’s amazing.”
The Rams will now travel to Murrieta Valley to take on the Nighthawks on Thursday, just five days after MV defeated Millikan for the CIF-SS Division 2 championship last Saturday.
“When we saw who we could play if we won this game that lit a fire under us,” Millikan coach Jose Guzman said. “This is the redeem team, they see an opportunity and they’re going to take advantage of it.”
Alta Loma, fresh off their CIF-SS Division 4 win, didn’t make it easy for the Rams as they kept things close in the first period.
Millikan’s Faye Garcia gave the Rams a 1-0 lead, but the Braves’ Carly Berzins tied it up with 3:05 left in the period.
Avery Jensen scored two goals in the final three minutes as Millikan took a 3-2 lead after the first.
Osorio led the way in the second as she scored twice and Jensen scored once as Millikan open up a 6-2 lead.
The scoring continued as the Rams got goals from Jensen and Lindsay Arbing as they took an 8-3 lead into halftime. Whether it was 6-on-5s or counter attacks, the Rams offensive was humming as they found the right pass and never stopped applying the pressure.
“Our girls, they look small but they play like they’re 6-4,” Guzman said. “They’re so strong, their form, their technique. They’re a hungry scrappy team.”
While her teammates were busy finding the back of the cage, Avery Reyes was keeping the Braves from scoring as she had nine saves and had a couple steals as she stifled Alta Loma’s attack all night.
“We decided it’s time to buckle down,” Reyes said. “We’re just motivated just based on the fact that we have a chance to prove ourselves one more time.”
