Report From USA Water Polo & Greg Mescall
The 2009 Speedo Top 40 came to a close with a flurry of goals scored, trophies hoisted, and Olympians honored at the USA Water Polo National Training Center in Los Alamitos, CA.
The Psychedelic Swirls led by Head Coach Megan Thomson met the Sonic Surf and Head Coach Sandy Nitta in the title game. The Swirls came in undefeated at 3-0 having dispatched of all their opponents over the last two days while the Surf held a 2-1 record. It would be a perfect run for the Swirls as they posted an 8-6 victory, thanks to three goals from Lauren “LoLo” Silver, also the tourneys top scorer with 11 tallies. The Swirl’s Jessica Steffens was named MVP of the tournament while Sonic Surf’s goalie Emily Feher was named top goalkeeper for the tourney.
In the third place match it was the Fluid Flight with Head Coach Serela Kay taking on Electric Beat with Head Coach Matt Anderson. The Flight were hoping for their second victory while the Beat were just looking to get on the board. The Electric Beat mustered a solid effort but fell by just a goal losing 9-8 as the Flight’s Michelle Stein went off for a game high six goals.
During halftime of the first place match two Olympians were recognized as honorary captains for the 2009 Speedo Top 40. Two-time Olympians Natalie Golda and Ericka Lorenz were introduced the crowd for their contribution to the Women’s National Team that saw two World Championships and two Olympic Medals in their tenure.
Following those festivities the 16-team club tournament came to a close with the New York Athletic Club and Santa Barbara Water Polo meeting up in the championship game. The veteran NYAC squad took home the gold in this one with a 9-4 victory behind a balanced scoring attack including three goals from Adele McCarthy-Beauvias. NYAC’s Katie Hansen was named tourney MVP while Santa Barbara’s Sami Hill was top goalkeeper. Trojan’s Monica Vavic was the tourneys top goal scorer far and away with 21 tallies.
For third place it was Golda’s Huntington Beach Water Polo squad taking on a resurgent SoCal team. SoCal was the winner in a tight battle pulling out the 5-4 victory.
Fifth place was a meeting of SET and LA Water Polo while seventh place featured Chawp against an upstart Irvine Kahuna squad that toppled high seed Commerce on the first day of action. SET claimed fifth place with an 8-5 win and it was Chawp nipping Irvine Kahuna 8-7 for seventh. Commerce met Vavic and Trojan for ninth place winning 10-6 while the San Diego Shores took on El Rancho winning 9-5 to claim 11th place. In the thirteenth place game XTreme took out Golden West 15-6 while NCSD claimed 15th place with a 10-7 win over Rose Bowl.