Wednesday, Oct. 3 Oakdale High School water polo hosted Kimball at The Aquatic Center. With dark clouds above, both Oakdale boys and girls water polo teams shined in the pool. The girls won a thriller in overtime, 6-4 and the boys handled Kimball with a 12-10 victory.

For the ladies it was a hard fought battle from the beginning. Kimball scored late in the first period to go up 1-0. In the second period senior Haley Rivera found an open Nessa DeLeon to tie the game at one with 3:10 left in the half. Down 2-1 in the third period, Rivera earned her second assist when she connected with Bethany Metcalfe with 4:44 remaining in the quarter to tie the game. Oakdale took their first lead of the game when Hannah Lee scored from 10 meters out with 4:15 left to go in the third. Kimball evened the score at three in the third period.

In the fourth period, Kimball regained the lead with 3:44 remaining in regulation. Rivera continued her big game for Oakdale on a goal on an assist from Metcalfe to tie the game less than 30 seconds later.

The overtime period was owned by Oakdale when Alyssa Castano swam past a crowd of Jaguars and stole the ball away. With 42 seconds left in the first period of overtime, DeLeon displayed her accuracy and power when she slung the ball from 12 meters out and into the net to give Oakdale a 5-4 advantage. In the second overtime period, DeLeon scored from the same spot and distance to put the game away.

“I was fouled and figured I would take the shot,” said DeLeon on her first overtime goal.

Stash Perry helped Oakdale’s boys team escape with the victory. Perry scored five of Oakdale’s seven first period goals to open things up. Aron Cameron and Chandler Neal added the other two. In the second period Cameron added his second goal with 5:33 left in the half. David Terwilliger gave Oakdale a 9-3 edge with an empty net goal. Perry scored his sixth goal one minute later to give Oakdale a 10-3 lead. Ethan Perry scored a goal on an assist from Mason Chase with 36 seconds left in the half.

In the third period Kimball scored two straight goals to cut the deficit to 11-5. Ethan Perry snapped the scoreless drought when he scored his second goal for the team’s final goal in their Valley Oak League opener.

“It is very exciting to start our season off 1-0,” said Coach Diane Kline. “Our goal this year is to win VOL, and in the past we have come up just shy, so this win sets us on the path we want. Today, our boys scored early and never slowed down. They are playing with a lot of chemistry right now and it’s been fun to watch.”

Oakdale jumped back in the pool on Monday, Oct. 8 against Central Catholic, with the game held following The Leader’s press time and on Tuesday, Oct. 9 the team traveled to Sonora. Their next home game will be Wednesday, Oct. 10 against Ripon.