LJ g water polo 14, Valhalla 6

Captain Lexi Atwell lobs yet another La Jolla missile

in the first half as Vikings stifle Valhalla, 11-4.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's top-ranked girls water polo team unleashed another blistering attack to smother Valhalla 14-6 in the CIF Open Division semifinals Thurs., Feb. 25, in the friendly confines of Coggan Pool.

This time five different Vikings got into the scoring act as they broke out to a 4-0 first quarter lead, then an insurmountable 8-0 advantage at halftime. It was 12-3 after three quarters.

Junior Kira Bruno, who hasn't been getting all the headlines lately among her talented teammates on the first-seed La Jolla squad, opened up scoring less than a minute into the contest with her goal. Two a half minutes later, big Ciara Franke delivered the first of her two goals in the first half from the center-forward spot directly in front of the goal.

In the last minute of the opening stanza, leading scorer Karli Canale drilled a shot from the five position to the left of the cage. Seconds later, senior captain Lexi Atwell added her first of an early pair of goals. La Jolla led, 4-0.

As Sydney Boland, Atwell again, a dominating Franke, then the junior Boland again scored goals in short order in the second quarter for the 8-0 halftime lead, the Viking defense led by goalie Bennett Bugelli was smothering Valhalla at the other end of the pool.

The Norsewomen, undefeated as Grossmont Hills League champions and the fifth seed in the Open Division bracket, were no match for torrid La Jolla, which beat El Camino in the quarterfinals, 11-4. Valhalla didn't manage to score until two minutes into the third quarter, a goal by Gabrielle Martinez.

At least in the quarterfinal match last Saturday overmatched El Camino was able to score a goal in the second quarter. This beating was worse, if that's possible.

The Vikings, now 25-4, have had to keep their eyes on the prize without any help from the competition in the playoffs. In fact, there hasn't been any competition in the upper bracket. Winning by big margins, Coach Keller Felt's squad has had to maintain its own focus and intensity. It has not been tested in the playoffs.

Looming in the lower bracket is archrival Bishop's, the second seed, which came back to defeat Carlsbad 8-7 in the later game. La Jolla lost to the Knights in the semifinals last year.

The title tilt is set for 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 27, at Coggan.