AFTER a hard fought 2016/17 NSW Under 14s Girls State Age Water Polo Championships final at the Bathurst Aquatic Centre on Wednesday it only felt appropriate that the result would come down to a penalty shootout.
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Thanks to a goal in the dying seconds from UNSW Wests Killer Whales Yellow they were able to draw level at 1-all against ACU Cronulla Sharks Blue and take the match into a nail biting shootout.
A second round of shots was needed to determine the champion but eventually UNSW held their nerve to win the shootout and claim a 5-4 win.
“Cronulla was always going to make it a good game and to be honest I thought they had us for a while until the last couple of seconds when we got that penalty,” UNSW coach Kyle Allen said.
“We had a problem just getting the ball in the goal and I think if we’d scored all the shots that we’d taken I’d say we’d be a lot further in front than what we were at the end of the game.
“I’m very proud of them. They’re a great bunch of girls.
“This group have been playing together for around two years now and a lot of them go to school together as well.
“There’s a bunch of future stars. Watch out for them in a couple of years because you’ll be seeing them at the Olympics.”
The match became a frustrating affair for UNSW who dominated possession – constantly making it difficult for Cronulla to even get out of their own half – but were unable to show that dominance on the scoreboard.
UNSW had their best chances to go ahead in the second quarter but a shot from Mia Glasel bounced off the crossbar and a penalty from Lana Oppenheim thumped into the left post.
The deadlock was broken in the final quarter when Karla Poot put Cronulla up, despite her side being on the back foot for much of the game.
Sharks were on the verge of celebrating victory but Oppenheim was awarded a penalty in the dying seconds. Baker kept a cool head and made no mistake, sending the game into a shootout.
Nothing could split the two teams after their opening five shots, with each finding the mark on two attempts.
Oppenheim, who had been substituted into the UNSW goalkeeping role for the shootout, stepped up to the mark and blocked the seventh Cronulla shot to give her side a thrilling victory.
The gold medal capped off a strong tournament for the UNSW Wests outfit who were undefeated in all nine of their matches from Sunday through to Wednesday’s final.
Oppenheim top scored for the team with a tally of 13 goals.
