Chelsea Water Polo Headed to State with Big Goals

The Chelsea girls’ water polo team continues to roll through its record setting season after earnings the Bulldogs best finish ever at the East Regionals at Ann Arbor Skyline this weekend.

The Bulldogs finished regional runner-up for the first time in team history and will be seeded second at the state finals in East Lansing this weekend.

Chelsea will take on West Region third-seed Jenison in the quarterfinals Friday night at 5:15. With a win the Bulldogs will face the winner of number one ranked Hudsonville and fourth-seeded Birmingham Seaholm in the semifinals Saturday morning.

The Bulldogs hope to improve on their school best fifth-place finish from last season.

Chelsea qualified for the state finals with a 14-3 win over Troy in the opening round of the Skyline regional.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one period and never looked back. The built a 6-1 halftime lead and led 10-2 after three periods.

Keygan Monahan had a big game with a team-high five goals and one assist.

Brooke Paddock finished with four goals and two assists, while Tallulah Gorby added two goals and one assist.

Isabelle Tuell chipped in with one goal and dished out four assists, while Paiton Doyle and Gabi Rudolph had one goal and assists each, and Addi Kennedy one assist.

Sydney Barston made eight saves in net and had an assist, while Ruby Jackson made two saves for Chelsea.

The Bulldogs then defeated Birmingham Seaholm 8-5 in the semifinals to move on to the regional championship for the first time ever.

The teams had split their regular season matches with each winning 6-5 so a battle was expected in the semifinal matchup and it was.

Seaholm scored the first two of the game, but Chelsea bounced back with four goals, including a long throw at the buzzer by the goaltender Barston for a 4-3 lead.

Chelsea would never give up the lead after the Barston goal, but it was a battle until the final buzzer.

The Bulldogs clung to a one goal lead 6-5 heading into the final period and sealed the victory with two goals in the fourth.

Monahan led Chelsea with three goals, while Gorby, Tuell, Rudolph, and Kennedy had a goal and assist each.

Barston was a wall in net with 15 saves and scored the game-winning goal.

Chelsea ran into top seed Skyline and came up on the short end of a 9-2 decision.

The game was tied at 1-1 after one period, but Skyline outscored the Bulldogs 6-0 over the next two periods to take control with a 7-1 win and claimed the regional title.

Tuell and Monahan scored the goals, while Gorby added an assist for Chelsea.

The Bulldogs improved to 25-9 overall on the season.