Winding its season up on the road, the Sweet Home water polo squad faced one of the state’s best teams Saturday in the first round of the state playoffs and fell 13-7 to Parkrose at the Albany pool.
“We played a very tough team, said Coach Craig Martin. “Parkrose was second place in state last year. I am proud of our effort and how far this team was able to advance in spite of having limited number of players. The team had an outstanding season and represented the school and sport very well.”
The Huskies have played the entire season with a mixed team, since they did not have enough girls to form a separate squad. Martin said they played their trademark tough defense, but couldn’t bunch their scoring enough to close the gap on the Broncos, who compete at the 5A level in other sports.
Cory Martin led Sweet Home with four goals, while Derek Jaques, Sami Webb and Jake Johnson each added one each.
Earlier last week, in what Craig Martin described as a “tune-up” for state, the Huskies split a pair of non-league contests with West and South Salem at Kroc community Center Pool in Salem.
In the first game the Huskies defeated South Salem 8 – 5 in a very physical contest that was a big challenge both physically and emotionally for Sweet Home.
“They played us very aggressive and physical, which was a good tune-up for our upcoming state playoff Run,” Martin said.
In the second game the Huskies fell 7-5 to a fresh West Salem squad after losing an early two-goal lead and being outscored 6-3 in the second half.
Cory Martin scored seven goals against South and Johnson added one. Martin also was the leading scorer against West, with three goals, with Johnson and Webb adding one each.
Brandon Courteau recorded eight saves in goal against West.
“The team played very well in both contests,” Craig Martin said. “Our defense was able to control both teams very well. We just ran out of gas in the second game given it was essentially back-to-back play against a fresh team.”