Newcomers help SK water polo earn season-opening win over Puyallup
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 17, 2026
A squad of newcomers on the South Kitsap girls water polo roster propelled them to a season-opening 9- 7 win over Puyallup March 16 in Port Orchard.
“I really feel like it was our team spirit,” SK goaltender Shelby Cummings said. “The more goals we made, the more our team was like, ‘hey, we can do this.’”
The Wolves got on the board early with a score with 5:30 remaining in the first quarter from Mackenzie Nelson, giving SK an early 1-0 lead.
Nonetheless, Puyallup kept up with the Wolves, forcing turnovers and executing passes that set the Vikings up for scores. Puyallup eventually stole the lead from SK, getting out to a 2-1 lead with 1:30 remaining in the first.
Cummings defended a barrage of shots on goal from the Vikings, as Puyallup had increased its offensive tempo toward the end of the first. As a result, the Vikings eventually got themselves out to a 3-1 lead with less than a minute remaining in the first.
Puyallup got an immediate score within the first ten seconds of the second quarter due to a defensive lapse from the Wolves. However, SK began to generate more shots on goal, as they were able to force more turnovers and produce more offensive opportunities.
The Vikings continued to convert more of their own offensive opportunities, scoring another goal with 3:24 remaining in the half. Nelson and Azie Spiker converted goals in the final two minutes of the half for the Wolves, cutting the deficit to 5-3 by halftime.
Spiker converted on her second goal of the match with 5:34 remaining in the third quarter, cutting SK’s deficit to one. But the Vikings quickly responded in less than a minute with another score to get their lead back to two.
The Wolves began to cut the deficit and ultimately took the lead at 7-6 at the end of the third via a Nicole McCallister goal.
Both defenses upped the intensity at the beginning of the fourth quarter, with neither team putting any goals in for the first four minutes of the period. SK coach Zack Fogel called a timeout with 3:02 remaining in the game to talk strategy with his team for the final remaining minutes.
SK continued to produce shots on goal with Spiker converting another goal, getting the Wolves out to their largest lead of the game at two, and ultimately sealing the victory.
“The goal on offense [was to] remember to spread out,” Fogel said. “Defensively, you’ve got to make sure you’re back between them. So it’s just remembering the basics.”
