Three times the Merced High girls water polo team saw its lead trimmed to one goal in the second half, including twice in the fourth quarter. The Bears responded each time and junior goalie Audrey O’Bruba made key saves down the stretch as top-seeded Merced held off No. 5 Stevenson for an 11-8 victory in the Northern California Regional Division III semifinals on Thursday night at Merced High’s Dibblee Deck.

 

The Bears improve to 30-2 on the season with their 10th consecutive victory and advance to the NorCal Division III championship against No. 3 Los Altos on Saturday at the University of the Pacific in Stockton at 10 a.m. The Eagles (25-6) edged No. 2 Garces Memorial 12-11 in the other semifinal matchup on Thursday. “It’s really exciting,” O’Bruba said. “We’ve never made it to NorCals before so it’s going to be fun.”

 

Out of Merced’s 32 games this season, Thursday’s game against the Pirates (20-10) was only the fifth contest all year decided by three goals or less so there was the adrenaline, fear and excitement of knowing the Bears’ season was on the line as Stevenson pulled within one goal multiple times in the second half. 

 

“It was very nerve-racking, but as a team we have so much momentum when we get up and I think that helped me see past it,” said Merced sophomore Zoey Hickman, who scored three clutch goals in the first half to help the Bears build an early lead. “I did get scared as a player on the field when they were close, but I also did have trust in my goalie, my defense, my offense, our shooters, I had trust in my teammates because I knew our momentum would bring us back in front.”

 

Bears junior Olivia Westerberg delivered two key goals to close the first half from outside to give Merced a 6-3 lead at the half. It was a replay of the section championship game when Westerberg also scored two big goals from the wing against St. Mary’s.

 

The Pirates then showed why they won the Central Coast Section Division II championship as they opened the second half with back-to-back goals from Charlotte Murrow and Jacqui Powers to pull within 6-5 with 5:38 left in the third quarter. Murrow leads Steveson with 125 goals this season and drew consistent double teams from the Bears at 2-meters as Merced tried to force other players to score.

 

Meanwhile, the Bears offense was effective with their ball movement, which opened up shots from everywhere. Hickman answered Stevenson’s charge with a goal to extend the lead back to 7-5 with 5:17 left in the third quarter. Merced struck again after a foul as Kate McIntosh quickly put the ball back in play with a pass to Dorothy Drury, who scored to give the Bears an 8-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

 

Again the Pirates stormed back as they cut the lead to 8-7 and again to 9-8 with 5:05 left in the game. O’Bruba then became a wall, recording five of her eight saves in the final 5 minutes of the game. “She was big in those final minutes,” said Merced coach Kit Grattan. O’Bruba says it was a thrilling finish. “I feel like we’ve been missing the really good, hard competition,” she said. “I think it really adds on to our character and it makes it more exciting.”

 

Sarah Slocum and Drury both scored goals down the stretch to help the Bears secure the victory. Merced recorded assists on all 11 goals with Slocum and Westerberg each recording three assists. Taylor Lung, Westerberg and Drury all contributed with two goals. 

 

“I believe it was really a high-level game,” Grattan said. “In our section, (Stevenson) would be right there in the top four teams. They were a good team. It was fantastic, it was fun to finish it up with a game like that at home.”

 

Next up for the Bears will be the NorCal Division III championship against a very good Los Altos team that won the Central Coast Section Division I championship. After winning back-to-back section championships, Merced has an opportunity to win its first NorCal championship. 

 

It’s Merced’s third consecutive game against a section champ following wins over Stevenson and Christian Brothers in the first two rounds of the NorCal playoffs. “This run has been so special,” O’Bruba said. “We all have this tight bond, we’ve been playing together for so long, it just makes this time together so much fun.” 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.