IRVINE – It took Foothill’s boys water polo team one period to warm up Wednesday night.
After that, the Knights were mostly fine, outside a nervous final two minutes against Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach in the CIF Division 2 semifinals.
Attacker Billy Cranshaw grabbed a rebound on a shot off the post with about 20 seconds left and goalie Arash Izadmanesh made two of his eight saves in the final four minutes to help the top-seeded Knights hold off Mira Costa, 10-9, at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.
Foothill (24-6) advances to its second consecutive Division 2 final Saturday when it takes on No. 3 seed Los Osos of Rancho Cucamonga, a 9-7 winner against Dana Hills.
The Knights trailed, 2-0, after the first period but their desire to avenge a loss against Agoura in last season’s final surfaced during the final three quarters.
“We’re more of a comeback team,” Foothill center Gavin Scott said. “For some reason, we always love making things interesting and coming back from behind. … We just love close games.”
Scott made things interesting just before the end of the first, unleashing a back-handed shot from mid-pool that required a nice save by goalie Nick Dale.
The Mustangs, last season’s Division 3 champion, still led, 2-0, but Foothill seemed to have a spark.
Scott scored from center off a pass by his brother, Zane, shortly after the second-period sprint. About two minutes later, Zane, a freshman, tied the score, 2-2, on a power-play feed from Chas Hornecker.
Later in the second, Hornecker scored on a penalty shot and added a counterattack goal off a steal by Bobby Lee. Mira Costa called a timeout and the tight match was on.
Foothill took an 8-7 lead into the fourth after a backhander from center by Griffin Gaughran late in the third.
Gavin Scott then drew an exclusion that led to Lee’s power-play strike to open the scoring in the fourth. Scott, a senior, added another goal from center to make to it 10-7 with 4:24 left in the fourth.
“This whole season has just been (about) the Division 2 title,” Gavin Scott said. “All the way. That’s our only thing.”
Also in Division 2:
Los Osos of Rancho Cucamonga 9, Dana Hills 7: The Grizzlies (18-9) avenged a 16-14 loss to the Dolphins in mid-October to advance to the finals despite 14 saves from Riley Zachary. Freshman Kai Hanson scored three goals for Dana Hills (20-11).
Hanson became a key scorer as Los Osos — last season’s Division 4 champion — shut out Marko Asic and limited Bennett Williams to one goal. Tanner Stewart made 14 saves for Los Osos while Ty Williams and Austin Stewart each scored three goals.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
