Heritage's first playoff appearance in water polo ends in loss

Heritage High School's Marisol Montes rises up to fire a shot that went into the net for the team's first goal. Menifee 24/7 photo: Doug Spoon

Heritage High's first-ever appearance in the CIF girls water polo playoffs was short-lived, but coach Katherine Elias says the Patriots gained a lot from this season with which to build.

The improvement shown during an 8-8 season is encouraging to Elias, even though the Patriots lost their CIF Division 7 playoff opener to Flintridge Prep on Wednesday, 10-3.

"We made it to playoffs; we earned that one fair and square," said Elias, whose team lost only three games in league play. "It's been an interesting season. These girls are so dedicated and they took the time out of their family time, their personal lives, their school to make sure they could be here and support each other.

"We've had our ups and downs, but we've really learned a lot from each individual game. Personally, I've learned a lot from each game as well. We've had some really great wins and we had some tough losses, but every loss we had was ... hard work."

Heritage fell behind early in this game, although they trailed just 2-1 after the first quarter. Marisol Montes scored off a shot from right in front of the net late in the period to cut a two-goal deficit in half. Montes scored again on a long shot late in the second quarter, but by then Flintridge Prep led, 6-2.

Natalie Kalantian led the way for the visiting Rebels with six goals, dominating her opponents in getting into position for high-percentage shots. Although the Rebels threw several hard shots at the Heritage net, Patriots goalie Jadyn McRitchie made a number of outstanding saves.

Mariela Mendoza scored the other goal for Heritage on a shot from the left side in the third quarter.

"She's awesome," Elias said about McRitchie. "I've got one more year out of her."

Elias, who is in her first year as the team's coach, sees a bright future for the Patriots.

"We haven't had consistency in coaches in the past," she said. "I definitely plan on being here again next year. Hopefully we can get even more girls recruited to really enhance our program for next year."

Below are video highlights of the game: