A funny thing happened on the way to overtime Wednesday in the Pasadena City College women's water polo team's 2021 season opener.
"I don't think I've ever had a team that was so excited we were going to overtime," said PCC head coach Terry Stoddard, the only coach of the program and now in his 22nd season. "They were practically cheering when I said hey we get to play six more minutes. They never wanted to leave the pool."
The Lancers rallied from down 7-4 after three quarters, tied it in the final minute to send it to overtime at 10-10 and controlled the two 3-minute extra periods to outlast host Rio Hondo College, 13-11. It was the first action by PCC in water polo since 2019, first victory since defeating East Los Angeles on Nov. 8 of that year.
Tied 2-2 after one quarter, 4-4 by halftime, it was Rio Hondo (0-3, 0-1) that relied on high scorer June Babishoff who netted three consecutive goals for a 7-4 lead after three periods.
In the fourth quarter, PCC's offense, which had numerous high quality scoring chances up to that point only to be stoned by Roadrunners goalie Valentina Orozco (18 overall saves), finally broke through. Marley Courtney, 0-for-5 on shots to that point, netted three in a 6-goal, fourth quarter by the Lancers. With 2:03 left, Courtney took a pass from Mia Hernandez to tie it at 8-8. PCC would tie it again at 9-9 when Lilian Tahmasian received a pass from Leila Jimenez, faked a pass and fired in a no-look score with 1:24 to go.
Rio Hondo took a 10-9 lead on a PCC accidental own goal, but the Lancers kept their composure. With 44 seconds remaining, Courtney made a give-and-go play with Marina Schulz and received the second pass to net a short range shot, sending the game to overtime.
With 1:37 left in the first 3-minute OT, Courtney took a cross pass by Schulz and fired a shot into the upper cage for an 11-10 lead. At the exact same time in the second OT, PCC scored what proved to be the winning goal on another Schulz to Courtney connection and a 12-10 cushion. Babishoff would score her ninth goal of the game on a penalty shot, but PCC responded again on a lead pass by Schultz that resulted in a Hernandez tally to cap the match with 47 seconds left.
"It was just so exhilarating to return to the pool after the players had to wait so long to get a chance to play," Stoddard said. "The last time I got to coach a game was the 2019 South Coast Conference Tournament. Now I have a brand new set of players. Plenty of our freshmen have a high water polo IQ and you can see it by how many times we're able to perform set plays. Still, we have much to work on to improve and get them more experience of just playing the games themselves."
Courtney scored on her final five shots to net five goals overall while Hernandez added four goals in an efficient five attempts. Schulz passed out a team-high six assists, tied for the second-highest single-game total by a Lancer (the record is seven, held by three players). However it's been seven years since a PCC player had that many helpers. Schulz added five steals and a goal. Tahmasian fired in two goals and also was strong on defense with five steals. Courtney made four steals and Jimenez chipped in a goal, three assists and four steals.
PCC goalie Daniela Dockendorf-Cani didn't have a lot of action until late in the game. She made two key saves (three overall) in the overtime. Stoddard was impressed that the Lancers won all six of the period-opening sprints.
Courtney, a center/attacker and Lilah Caputi, an attacker (did not play in opener) are both from a strong Monrovia High program that went deep in the 2020 CIF Southern Section playoffs. Hernandez, a center, played on a Pacific League champion squad at Arcadia High. Tahmasian, at utility, and Nickey Hale, an attacker, each come from another perenially elite program at Crescenta Valley HS. Schulz is coming back to the pool after a long layoff and is originally from Santa Barbara High. Jimenez is out of Pasadena High and Dockendorf-Cani is from San Marino High.
Rounding out the PCC roster are utility players Berta Montes (El Monte High) and Josie King (South Pasadena).
For the first time, the Lancers won't be playing on campus as the PCC Aquatic Center is closed for the 2021-22 sports year. PCC practices and will play a few home games at Polytechnic High in Pasadena.
Stoddard is helped by assistant coach Cario Liu.
PCC will host Chaffey College on Wednesday, Sept. 22 in a 4:15 p.m. game at Pasadena Poly.
You can follow the Lancers on Twitter at @PCCAthletics