Up until three minutes left in the match, Culver City High’s girls’ water polo appeared to be headed to a win over Tustin in the CIF-Southern Section Division VI wildcard playoff game last Tuesday at the Culver City Veterans Park Plunge.
In a match that was close throughout, the Centaurs held a 5-4 lead into the fourth quarter. With 3:20 remaining, Camlie Morrat scored the tying goal and added the eventual winning goal with 32 seconds to go.
Culver made several attempts to send the match into overtime, but Tillie goalkeeper Amy Ambus turned away each of the Centaurs’ attempts for a 6-5 final score.
“The match just slipped away from us,” Culver coach Nestor Dordoni said. “Overall, we did very good. We finished second behind Santa Monica.”
Tustin finished fourth in the Empire League.
The Centaurs took a 2-1 first quarter lead behind a pair of goals from Kelly Allison, who finished with three goals.
Culver led 3-1 on Galvan Graciela’s goal but the Tillies tied the match, 3-3, on goals from Natalie Martin and Camlie Moffat.
Shortly before halftime, the Centaurs took a 4-3 lead on Maddie Parrales’ goal.
In the third peiod, Tustin tied it, 4-4, when Aalayah Thompson scored. Culver grabbed a 5-4 advantage on a goal from Allison.
