“I don’t think anything changed after Kate got out,” said Colleen McCall, except that “we just wanted to win even more.”
McCall and the Sailors were resilient. The senior made her second appearance since suffering second-degree burns on her right arm during a cooking accident in December.
The arm, covered in silver duct tape below and above the elbow, felt as good as it possibly could. It was McCall burning the Griffins as she scored three goals and led the Sailors to a 6-5 victory, handing Los Alamitos its first loss of the season.
The Sailors (8-1) are in position to win their fourth straight Sunset League championship since joining the league in 2006-07. They received contributions from everyone in the water, from goalie Krissy Burger’s 11 saves, to Kaleigh Gilchrist’s physical play down low, to Catherine Carpenter’s defense, to Katie Jackson taking advantage of the one opportunity to knock out the Griffins (11-1).
Newport Harbor’s counterattack was the key to the success. That is how the Sailors recorded their final three goals, including the game-winner from an unlikely source.
Jackson, a defender, was the one who found the back of the net with 51 seconds left in the first three-minute period in overtime. Carpenter drew an exclusion on a counter, setting up Jackson’s power-play goal.
Jackson made sure the Sailors were not about start the New Year the way they ended 2009, losing in the Holiday Cup final at home.
“This is much more important,” said Jackson, who added two steals and an assist. “We knew it was going to be a really, really hard game, but I think we were hoping to beat them [in the] fourth quarter.”
