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closeVikings flex their muscle against Jags
Puyallup improves its record to 3-2 after dominating Jaguars in a cross-town contest
Shaun Scott
A quick strike offensive attack utilized by the Puyallup Vikings Water Polo team put the Emerald Ridge Jaguars in come-from-behind mode from the outset of the contest.
The Vikings scored four unanswered goals in the first 4 minutes, 22 seconds, cruising to a 16-7 victory against the Emerald Ridge Jaguars at Rogers High School on March 21.
Puyallup’s dynamic combination of Lauren Griffin and Joanna Boschee proved to be unstoppable. Griffin tallied five goals and Boschee chipped in four goals for the Vikings.
“They’re the perfect combination together,” Vikings coach Todd Fletcher said. “Lauren is so fast out there. When she gets a breakaway it’s pretty much a guaranteed goal. Joanna has a lot of strength and size and is our team captain and three-year starter. They both feed off each other well.”
A beaming Fletcher was equally impressed with the way the rest of his roster performed.
“It was our third game in three days,” Fletcher said. “We had a tough match last night against Sumner and for us to come back the way we did today was outstanding.”
Kat Ost and Emma England scored three goals apiece as well. In addition, Alex Clark chipped in one goal for the Vikings.
On the other side of the pool, Jaguars coach Dave McMullan wasn’t disappointed with his teams’ performance despite the nine-point loss.
“We didn’t give up. Puyallup is a much more experienced team than us. For us to hang in there with a team of their caliber says a lot about how our team will be down the road,” McMullan said. “I can’t be disappointed in them. We played pretty well.”
McMullan believes his team will once again narrow the gap with the Vikings when they face each other again on May 2.
“In the second half of the season we’ll be a completely different team,” McMullan said. “For a lot of these players its there first year in the sport. They’re going to get nothing but better as the season progresses.”
Junior Callie Hyman scored a team-high four goals for the Jaguars. Senior Lauren Gonick nabbed two goals and Mandi Nyland scored one goal for Emerald Ridge.