It’s the opening matchup of the DVC girls water polo season, with Metea Valley hosting Waubonsie Valley. Both teams started strong with victories a week ago and hope to roll the momentum into conference play. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
A back-and-forth opening quarter
In the early minutes of the game, the Mustangs are on the attack. Riley Fleury takes a shot that is blocked by goalie Emma Buchenauer. Makayla Paulding gets the putback and fires, but it deflects down off the crossbar. Fleury then wins the race to the ball and knocks home the first goal of the game.
Moments later, Metea goes back on the attack when Paulding gets a steal and swims away from the defense and scores to put the Mustangs up 2-0.
Later in the quarter, Reece Calvey lofts a pass to Hadley Vierck, who finds the net to get Waubonsie on the board.
Trailing 4-1, Warrior Hadley Vierck throws a pass to Malini Madiman, who makes a no-look backhand goal to make it a 4-2 game.
In the final seconds of the opening quarter, and again it’s Vierck to Madiman, who lofts a shot into the corner for the buzzer-beating goal as Waubonsie trails by one, 4-3.
Early in the second, the Mustangs once again take advantage of second-chance opportunities. Leah Wojciechowski with a shot that bangs off the post, but Paulding scores on the rebound to give Metea a 5-3 lead at halftime.
Metea begins to pull away in the third
Metea looks to add to the lead in the third quarter with a shot from Ellie Maher, but Buchenauer makes the stop and swims the ball to safety.
But the Mustang attack is relentless. Paulding throws a pass to sophomore Taylor Biederman, who throws a shot just out of the reach of Buchenauer as Metea leads 6-3.
Late in the third, the Mustangs keep the offense rolling as Natalie Kosta swims the ball in and slams a shot that slips into the corner. The lead expands to 9-3.
Waubonsie needs a goal to get back in the game. Another backhand attempt heads towards the net, but Mustang goalie Macy Schroeder keeps the ball out of the net.
The Mustangs start the conference season with a win
Into the fourth quarter, Kosta throws a pass over to Makayla Paulding, who knocks home her eighth goal of the night. The Mustangs lead 12-3.
The Warriors keep battling as Hadley Vierck fires a shot through a trio of Mustang defenders to end the scoring drought.
But Metea Valley uses a strong second half to pull away for a 16-4 victory over Waubonsie. Biederman tallies four second-half goals to help the cause as the Mustangs improve to 1-0 in DVC play.
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