Vikings sink Rams in overtime

It was a game that had been circled early in the season as a big game and it didn't disappoint as Puyallup needed a balanced team effort and overtime to edge its cross town rival, Rogers, 10-9, yesterday at the Rogers Aquatic Center. Not playing a game for almost two weeks definitely showed early on for the Vikings as they fell behind the Rams 3-1. Puyallup had its hand full mostly with Maria Schuckova, a foreign exchange student who lit the Vikings up with two quick goals from way outside that hit nothing but the back of the net. Schuckova would add three more scores in the second half but she had to work for them as Hope Mahnken settled and played lock down defense on her and Alex Clark weathered Schuckova's shot barrage in the cage stopping several of her tough to handle skip shots. Puyallup trailed the entire first half but got to within 5-4 at the half thanks to two scores from Katie Hayes, and a goal each from Joanna Boschee' and Brenda Pogue. For the first time all year Hayes took up some of the scoring slack for the Viks as she scored her two first half goals from the outside following Ram ejection fouls. She would add a third goal in the fourth quarter. Puyallup pulled ahead 6-5 with 1:16 left in the third on an incredible shot by a submerged Boschee' who shot it blind into the lower corner, sneaking it past former Viking goalie, Kelsey Hamilton. In the final frame, Puyallup got up two, 8-6 thanks to back to back scores by Sam Evans, who tapped in a miss from the outside and Hayes scored following a Ram turnover. Evans, who hadn't played in two weeks due to a shoulder injury was a nice addition as Puyallup lost Paige Boyer to ejections early in the second half and the Vikings needed other players to fill the void. The Rams butted their way back into the game though with two scores late in the quarter to tie it at 8. The Vikings had a chance to win it with 7 seconds left, but Boschee's shot from two meters just grazed the top of the cage and out of bounds. In overtime it was a test of wills and which team could hang on the longest. Puyallup lead after the first overtime period on a score from Lauren Griffin with 19 seconds left. In the second overtime, Puyallup again went up two goals on a score from Bianca Jimenez. Rogers countered with 1:44 left following a Mahnken ejection. Clark stopped a final Rogers threat with 24 seconds left as she ran the clock down giving Rogers just 1.3 seconds to work with. Following a Ram time out, their final shot fell short, and Puyallup secured its eighth straight win and took a two game lead over the Rams in the race for the SPSL title. Puyallup and Enumclaw are now tied for first with undefeated league records. The teams will meet next Friday at Puyallup.

Puyallup drains Bonney Lake

Puyallup got off to a fast start Thursday afternoon against a vastly improved Bonney Lake squad and earned a 12-5 victory over the Panthers to run its record to 7-0.The Vikings used three goals from Paige Boyer and another from Joanna Boschee' to jump on the Panthers 4-0 after a quarter. While Boyer had the offense under control, Alex Clark was sharp in the cage giving up just one goal in the first half. Hope Mahnken and Katie Hayes was also working hard defensively as they had their hands full with Bonney Lake's double hole set. Boschee' added two hard earned goals in the second quarter against the Panther goalie who dominated the shallow end goal. Her two scores gave the Viks a 6-1 halftime lead. With the Bonney Lake goalie struggling in the deep water, Puyallup rang up four scores in the third quarter. Naomi Smith scored on a fast break pass from Boyer and Brenda Pogue gunned down back to back scores off outlet passes from Clark. Boyer closed out the scoring with a goal with 49 seconds left in the stanza. Boyer and Bianca Jimenez took care of the scoring honors in the fourth quarter with a goal apiece. With the win, Puyallup now heads into spring break all alone in first place in the East Division, but looming ahead is a huge showdown with district rival, Rogers on April 11. Game time is 3 pm at the Rogers pool.

Puyallup shuts out Emerald Ridge, 7-0

The Puyallup Vikings recorded their sixth win in a row with a 7-0 shut out of district rival, Emerald Ridge. Behind Alex Clark's strong play in goal, Puyallup played aggressive defense for the second straight game to win its third game in three days. Feeling the effects of playing three games in three days in three different pools, Puyallup appeared sluggish and were a little sloppy in the first half. Behind goals by Joanna Boschee' and Paige Boyer, the Vikings grinded out a 3-0 halftime lead. While the Viks weren't sharp offensively, they shone on the defensive side as Hope Mahnken and Katie Hayes teamed up to shut down ER's 2 meter play. Lauren Griffin stayed up with ER's speedy Brittany Bushnell to deny the Jaguars an outside threat. The defensive pressure also resulted in several shot clock violations on the Jaguars which Puyallup used in the second half to pull away. The Viking shut out was put to the test with 42 seconds left to play and Puyallup facing an Emerald Ridge power play. Boschee' got a hand on a shot from the top and Clark gobbled up the loose ball and found a streaking Boyer for the final score with 17 seconds left in the game. Puyallup is back in action on March 29 at Sumner against Bonney Lake. Game time is 3:15.

Hornets stings Puyallup; snap winning streak

Everyone knew it would have to end sometime, and the Puyallup girl's water polo team Friday gave it everything they had until the very end in an attempt to extend their 29-game regular season winning streak. The Viks came up just short, dropping a tough and heartbreaking 8-7 decision to Enumclaw. The loss not only snaps the winning streak which dates back to last season, but also puts Puyallup a game back in the race for its second straight league title. Puyallup knew going into the game that it was going to be a close contest and that proved to be just the case. Enumclaw scored 30 seconds into the contest on an uncontested shot. Paige Boyer tied it up on a power play 28 seconds later. Following a Boyer ejection Enumclaw took the lead back with 5:26 left to play in the quarter. It stayed 2-1 until Hope Mahnken drilled home a shot from 5 meters out on another power play with 30 seconds gone in the second quarter. The score remained knotted at two until 2:17 left when the Hornets found the net. Enumclaw then scored two more goals in the next minute to take a commanding 5-2 lead into halftime. Puyallup didn't panic though and showed resolve in the second half to battle back. Its defense was solid all night as Alex Clark was tough in goal and Mahnken and Katie Hayes contested Enumclaw's barrage of outside shots. After the first gimme goal, Puyallup forced the Hornets to earn the rest of their scores. With the defense standing strong, Joanna Boschee' provided what was probably a shot of the year for her, as she faked right, submerged under water and came up left and drained a six meter shot in the upper right corner of the deep end goal. She followed that shot up with a penalty shot that got the Vikings back to 6-5. Even though Puyallup outscored the Hornets in the second half, 5-3, it could never get the game back to even and was forced to play catch up. Boyer got Puyallup within one at 7-6 early in the fourth. The score was clutch as she just re-entered the game after sitting out the majority of the game with two ejections. The Hornets pushed it to 8-6 with 6:18 left after Boschee' was ejected. The Vikings then took a major hit as Boschee' picked up her final ejection foul with 5:53 left to play. The score stayed at 8-6 until Boyer lobbed a score over the outstretched arms of the Hornet goalie to make it 8-7 with 3:43 left. In a frustrating finish, Puyallup had two chances to force overtime. Boyer missed an outside shot with 32 seconds left. And following a delay of game call against Enumclaw, Puyallup had six seconds to get a shot off and Katie Hayes' five meter shot was just wide and Enumclaw's celebration in Puyallup's pool got underway. Puyallup will look to start a new winning streak next Wednesday when Auburn-Riverside comes to town for a 7:30 pm game.

Vikings ship nudges the women of Troy

After a lackluster performance against Sumner on Tuesday, Puyallup jumped all over the Auburn Trojans early on Thursday and then hung on at the end to wrap up its tenth win of the season with a 14-9 victory.The Vikings jumped out to a 4-0 first quarter lead behind two goals by Katie Hayes and a goal each from Joanna Boschee' and Paige Boyer. Puyallup stretched its lead to 8-0 in the second quarter as Boyer tallied 3 goals and Boschee' added one. Alex Clark was strong in the cage as she recorded a first half shutout before giving way to Katie Wells, who tended the second half. Ah, the second half. With the Viks up 11-1 with 4:18 left in the game, Puyallup went to its bench and promptly saw Auburn go on a 9-1 scoring run which saw its 11-1 lead melt down to 12-9 with 1:14 left to play. Clark, playing the field, finally stop the scoring drought with a shot from two meters and Pam Akiona sealed the deal with a push shot from the left side of the goal with just 6 seconds left to play. The win sets up a huge date with Enumclaw, which is also undefeated in league play, on Friday at the Puyallup pool.

Vikings slip and slide past Spartans

It wasn't pretty, but Puyallup overcame a lackluster performance to fend off the Sumner Spartans, 16-10, to record its first sweep of the season. The win also improved the Vikings record to 9-0.Things started off just fine for the Viks as they rolled to a quick 5-0 lead in the first quarter. Paige Boyer and Joanna Boschee' both added two goals each during the fast start. The fast start soon cooled though as Summner scored two goals in the last minute of the quarter to cut the lead to 5-2. The second quarter belonged to Boschee' offensively as the rest of the Vikings struggled with staying off the bottom in the shallow end. Several Puyallup goals were called off by off the bottom calls. In the meantime Sumner cut the Viking lead in half, 8-4, going into halftime. The third quarter saw the Viks emerge from the fog and outscore the Sparts 5-1. Several Vikings got in on the scoring act. Boschee' added her sixth goal of the day and Boyer, Bianca Jimenez, and Brenda Pogue all added a goal each.The fourth frame got a little messy as Hope Mahnken, who had played solid defense all game long, picked up her third ejection foul on a questionable two hand up call and was done for the game. Boyer also picked up her second ejection on the same play as she was whistled for two hands up while defending the point. Sumner took advantage of the foul situation and outscored Puyallup 4-1 over the final 5 minutes. But the Vikings already had goals from Lauren Griffin, Sam Evans, Boschee'and Boyer to withstand the Sumner scoring barrage and recorded win number nine on the season. The Vikings return to action on Thursday with a third trip to the Auburn pool to play Auburn at 5 pm. Puyallup will return home Friday to play their first home game in a month when it takes on league leading Enumclaw at 7:30 pm.