GWP TAKES DOWN UC; COACH ELLA RECORDS FIRST CAREER WIN AS HEAD COACH

Long ago, Clairemont and University City had an incredible rivalry that burned within the Eastern League.  Between 2015 and 2019 UC and Clairemont played 10 times, 4 of which were for the Eastern League Championship.  The teams split evenly with 5 wins and 2 titles each.  The feuds amongst players were deep and meaningful, and the games almost always came down to some of the most exciting and dramatic finishes of Clairemont’s history.  But as players graduated and the programs trended in different directions, the once fierce rivalry simmered.  Why mention this?  Take a guess at who was one of the most prominent members of the Clairemont squad over the 2015-2019 era?  None other than Ella Denny!  So games against UC just mean a little bit more to the girls that played back then.

It’s been a tough season for the young Chieftain squad as they’ve faced down a gauntlet of top Division 1 programs from around Southern California.  But the grind paid off on Friday night when the girls took on their first non-division 1 opponent of the season and delivered coach Ella her first career win as head coach.  Senior Haley Ballinger put the team on her back early with a career high 3 goals from center in the first quarter to help the Lady Chiefs jump out to a big 3-0 lead.  The Centurions weren’t going anywhere however and pulled back within one before the end of the first quarter.

Ballinger clearly did her job though as UC switched to a drop defense to double team her from scoring anymore.  But this only helped to open up the star powered junior duo of Carly Harris and Finley Larsen on the outside, who together scored 9 goals over the next 3 quarters.  Harris got things back on track for Clairemont in the second quarter as she earned a power play and then buried a pass from sophomore Kelly Loomis to reestablish a 2 goal lead.  The Centurions seemed to always have an answer however and consistently pulled back within 1 throughout the 2nd quarter.  But coach Ella was pleased to take a 6-5 lead into halftime

The Lady Chiefs were clearly ready to play at the start of the 2nd half as they ripped off 3 straight goals within the first 2 minutes to go up 9-5, forcing a UC timeout.  Larsen started the quick run for Clairemont with back to back goals assisted by junior Emma Lui.  The Centurions were able to stop the bleeding momentarily with a goal, but the 4 goal cushion was quickly re-established when sophomore Sophie Keegan located a wide open junior Bella Fantaroni who did not hesitate to lace a high corner shot to the back of the net!  More impressive though than the offensive output of the Chieftains in the second half was the incredible performance on defense from the promising freshmen goalie Adiana Wesselman.  Wesselman stone-walled the Centurions point blank twice and came up with big stop after big stop to keep her team rolling!  Harris and Larsen continued to do work in the 4th quarter as the girls built up a commanding 13-6 lead.  UC went on a late run to make things interesting, but the lead was too great and the Clairemont girls were able to hold on for a 13-10 victory!!!!

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UP NEXT

The Clairemont Varsity Girl’s Water Polo team improves to 1-8 on the season.  Up next, the girls are in the Mater Dei New Year’s Shoot Out January 2-3.  The first game is against Eastlake at 10:50am and the second game is against Olympian at 12:30pm on January 2nd.  COME OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR LADY CHIEFTAINS!!!!