Gulliver Prep boys’ and girls’ water polo teams advance to state championship games

Gulliver Prep’s girls had a Sweet Seventeen party on Friday.

The Raiders used a 17-0 run to defeat Fort Lauderdale’s Westminster Academy 31-9 on Friday afternoon, advancing to the water polo state championship match at Belen Jesuit’s Gian Zumpano Aquatic Center.

Gulliver (16-0) will play Lake Nona (17-0) in the state’s dream final, matching Florida’s two undefeated girls’ squads.

But to get to Lake Nona, Gulliver had to dispose of Westminster, which led only once in Friday’s semifinal, at 1-0. After that, Gulliver took control with six consecutive goals.

But after Gulliver led 10-3 in the second quarter, Westminster had its best moments of the game, winning three of four points and closing its deficit to 11-5.

But that’s when Gulliver, led by Alissa Pinciroli Pascual, took control.

“Alissa is heads-above everyone in the state,” Gulliver coach Carroll Vaughan said. “They couldn’t stop her. They put two or three people on her, but they still had trouble.”

Pascual, a senior who in November signed to play water polo for Stanford University next season, had a game-high 13 goals. She also had 13 steals and four assists.

Gulliver also got eight goals, four steals and two assists from Gaby Montalvo, four goals and four assists from Emily Miller and three goals and two assists from Georgia Pascual, who is Alissa’s sister.

“When they put two or three people on Alissa, our other girls rose to the occasion,” Vaughan said. “Emily came up huge, counterattacking, and Gaby Montalvo, also.”

Alissa Pascual said she believes Gulliver wore down Westminster.

“Yes, this past month, we have been practicing a lot,” she said. “We have been going hard — a lot of swimming sets — and that helped.”

Westminster, which had its seven-game win streak snapped, finished its season with a 13-3 record.

Daniel Cercols, the Westminster coach, said the loss was tough to swallow.

“This is maybe the best year in the history of our program, but today was humiliating,” Cercols said. “[Gulliver] didn’t need to score 30 goals. That’s just my opinion.”

Asked if he felt Gulliver tried to embarrass his team, Cercols said: “If they didn’t try to humiliate me, I felt humiliated.”

Vaughan, Gulliver’s coach, said she had Pascual and all middle-school players in the water for much of the fourth quarter.

“The only reason I kept Alissa out there is that she’s a senior,” Vaughan said, “and these are the final two matches of her prep career.”

Gulliver’s girls will have company in Saturday’s state final as the program’s boys’ team — also coached by Vaughan — defeated St. Thomas Aquinas, 19-11, in a physical match that featured plenty of exclusions.

Gulliver’s boys are 24-0 and will play Orlando’s Dr. Phillips (17-2) in the 4 p.m. final.

Aquinas finished the season 19-8, including a 0-3 record against Gulliver.

Gulliver’s boys’ team was led by Bruno Rebessi, who had 10 goals, five assists and four steals. He also drew four exclusions.

Also for Gulliver, goalie Kamal Kay-Ramos had seven blocks, and JC Pompa scored four goals and dished out three assists.

Gulliver’s boys, 66-1 over the past three years, are a veteran team with six out of seven starters playing their senior seasons.

The Gulliver boys’ program will be going for its fifth state championship on Saturday. The Raiders won the title in 2019 and were 17-0 and headed for a possible repeat last season when COVID halted the season.

THIS AND THAT

▪ Since Florida’s state water polo finals began in 2005, the same school has swept the boys’ and girls’ championships only once — Gulliver in 2007. Those 2007 Gulliver teams were coached by Alex Bennett, who now coaches the Lake Nona girls, who will try to stop the Raiders on Saturday.

This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 10:42 PM.