Wins over Central Catholic for both the boys and girls Oakdale High School varsity water polo teams resulted in the Mustang squads capturing the Valley Oak League championships. On Wednesday, Oct. 17 Oakdale hosted the visiting Raiders for Senior Night 2018 and Oakdale made short work of Central Catholic in both contests.
The girls team began the afternoon by celebrating their seven seniors including four-year starter Bethany Metcalfe, three-year starters Camryn O’Neal, Kayla Peterson and Hayley Rivera, and two-year starters Megan Humphrey, Savannah Derby and Nessa DeLeon.
“It’s an emotional feeling, that this might be the last home game to play in front of our families, friends and fans,” said O’Neal.
Those emotions were placed aside, however, when she got between the posts and her stellar defense shut down Central Catholic. Oakdale won the contest 21-1 as O’Neal recorded 10 saves. She was not the only senior who shined in the win; Metcalfe had a team high four goals for Oakdale. DeLeon added three, Derby had two goals and Rivera, Peterson and Humphrey each had one goal.
Oakdale’s future appears to be bright as they got goal contributions from Sydney Ballentine with two goals. Other underclassmen scoring goals were Alyssa Castano, Hailey Moya, Sophie Schwandt and Hannah Lee. Leading the way, Lee had three goals for Oakdale.
On Monday afternoon Oakdale defeated Kimball on the road 7-6. Lee paced the team with three goals while senior Metcalfe had two and Peterson and DeLeon each had one.
Following the girls big win on Wednesday, the boys took to the pool where they handed Central Catholic a 19-3 loss. It was a dominant performance by the team, which also honored its group of seniors. Four-year starter Aron Cameron, three-year starters Zach Hill, Nathan Womack, two-year starters Ryan Romito and Lucas Ryun and first-year starter Grayson Paulus were all honored before the game.
The Mustangs jumped on the Raiders early with a 6-0 first quarter. Cameron led the team with three goals on the afternoon.
“This was a game we really wanted to win, it is Senior Night and these are a great group of guys that I got play with,” said Cameron. “I’m proud of all of them, and this program has a great group of young players who will carry on the tradition after this year.”
Those underclassmen that Cameron praised included Chandler Neal, Ethan and Stash Perry, David Terwilliger, Jackson Ruvalcaba and Spencer Ruthman, just to name a few. The Perry boys scored a total of six goals between them, three goals each. Ruthman also scored three goals in the winning effort.
In the net for Oakdale was Hill who had nine blocks in the win and did not give up a goal until late in the first half.
Oakdale also won their road game against Kimball two days earlier with an 18-10 victory over the Jaguars. Cameron had six goals, while Stash Perry added five in the win. Terwilliger scored four.
Both teams return to the pool to wrap up the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 24 at Ripon. The first round of playoffs is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 31 but the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section brackets have yet to be determined.
