Westside Aquatics Third in Bronze

Pali High’s Jackie Au and Lilly Ramos Lead 18U Water Polo Squad at USA Junior Olympics

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

As the seconds ticked away in the waning moments of Sunday’s third-place game in the bronze division of the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics, Palisadian Jackie Au made the most of her chance.

Upon receiving a pass four meters in front of the goal she turned on her defender and fired a quick shot into the corner to tie the game 6-6 with 34 seconds left.

She then buried her 5-meter shot in the first round of the shootout and Westside Aquatics’ 18U girls squad went on to defeat the Princeton (New Jersey) Tigers at Valley High in Santa Ana to end a wild week in Orange County – and one of the first people to congratulate her was Palisades High teammate Lilly Ramos.

“The final game was really hectic and nerve racking,” Au admitted. “I was crying right before the shootout just because we made it that far but it felt great to win.”

Goalie Amalie Luneng Solli deflected a shot over the bar in the final round of the shootout, setting the stage for Santa Monica High teammate Shanna Stevenson’s game-winning shot.

“We knew we had to come out with intensity and we did, we just weren’t able to put goals away,” Au said. “Finally, in the fourth quarter we kicked it into gear.”

Westside finished 5-4 in the 48-team bracket and Au was one of the standouts after blossoming at JOs last summer and having another season of high school action.

“Playing high school made a big difference and I came really late to Westside this year,” Au added. “All the girls are new and we have a new coach.”

Mardell Ramirez, a vital part of Westside’s team last year and Pali High’s leading scorer during its run to the City Section finals in the winter, opted not to go to JOs as she prepares for her collegiate career at Cal Lutheran.

Ramos was thrilled to see Au come through in the clutch.

“Jackie is so good,” said Ramos, in her first season wth Westside. “We always count on her.”      Ramos is versatile, able to play “anywhere except goalie.”

“It’s great being here to experience the joy and the nervousness,” Ramos said. “I’m looking forward to next year.”

The more time Au and Ramos spend together in the pool, the more their friendship grows outside of it. Both will be entering their junior year at Pali High and both also swim for the Dolphins’ City championship team.

Au is a breaststroker and Ramos prefers freestyle and the individual medley. Both are hoping to move up to varsity in the spring.

Priority No. 1, however, is the City water polo title. The boys program has won three straight while the girls have lost in the finals three times to Eagle Rock.

“Jackie and I are always together,” Ramos said. “We’re extra motivated to win City next year.”

Pali High teammate Yasmin Ansari is also on Westside’s 18U roster but didn’t play in JOs.

Au began the fourth-quarter comeback by stripping the Tigers’ goalie and firing into the empty net. Samohi sisters Audrey and Alissa Hattori each added a goal to pull Westside within 6-5.

Earlier in the day, Westside lost its semifinal game to Rebel Water Polo of Sanger 13-3 to land in the third-place game.

“We didn’t play well in the morning so we wanted to at least finish up strong,” said Au, one of four local girls on last year’s 18U squad along with Ramirez and Marlborough’s Aelish Donohue and Julie Hartman. That team placed 10th in the gold division.

Rounding out the team were Samohi players Olivia Allen (who led all scorers with 15 goals in the tournament), Olivia Schwartz, Anya Pertel, Ana Gibson, Cora Ries and Luna Kohut along with Catherine Barrie and Sara Joy Salib of Venice.

Westside trailed 6-2 going into the final seven minutes but didn’t panic.

“I just told them to keep fighting,” Westside Coach and Samohi alum Nila Ward said. “We played them earlier in the tournament, we were four down and we almost came back to beat them so it was a similar situation.”