Behind a second half shutout, the Madera South Stallions girls water polo team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Div. III Central Section playoffs with an 8-3 victory over Sunnyside-Fresno.
Savanna Rivera scored four goals and goalie Jatzelle Salazar recorded 18 saves to lead the sixth-seeded Stallions over the 11th seeded Wildcats on Wednesday afternoon.
The Stallions next play Saturday at No. 3 Tulare Western at 11 a.m.
Savanna Rivera got the scoring started with a goal 45 seconds into the match. About a minute later, Jesmary Rivera scored for a 2-0 lead.
However, Sunnyside scored two goals in the final 1:10 of the first period to tie the match.
The second came on a man-advantage.
Madera South came back to score two goals in the first 2:13 of the second period. Savanna Rivera scored the go-ahead goal for the Stallions.
Vanessa Rivera added another goal about a minute later for a 4-2 lead. Sunnyside came back less than a minute later with a goal to cut the lead to one.
With 1:24 left in the first half, Ruiz scored her only goal of the game for a 5-3 halftime lead.
Savanna Ruiz scored two goals in a two minute span for a 7-3 lead.
Jesmary Rivera opened the fourth period scoring with a goal with 5:23 left in the match.
The Stallions’ defense held tough the rest of the way and kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard. Salazar recorded six saves in the second half to pitch the second half shutout.