Savanna’s girls water polo team turned to its high-powered offense and experience to navigate through the pressure-filled waters of the CIF-Southern Section playoffs Thursday.
Record-setting senior Patricia Galaz and junior Emily Cetin scored consecutive goals in the fourth period, and the senior-laden Rebels made enough defensive stops in the final five minutes to beat Rancho Alamitos, 11-9, in a Division 6 first-round match.
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The Orange League co-champion Rebels (21-8) play host to No. 2 seeded Palm Desert, a 15-2 winner against Tustin, in the quarterfinals Saturday at Fullerton College.
Rancho Alamitos (11-12), playing without Coach Nic Yuch, cut Savanna’s lead to 9-8 after Mackenna Ammann rebounded her missed penalty shot and scored with 5:09 left in the fourth. Center Katsuko Yamanishi drew the penalty shot.
But Galaz hustled for a loose ball at center and scored less than 30 seconds later and Cetin fired in her third perimeter strike of the second half to give the Rebels an 11-8 lead with 3:52 left.
The Rebels then sealed their second consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals on steals in the final two minutes by Jawni Prunchak and senior Kayla Caban and a save by senior goalie Stephanie Peterson.
“This is a pretty experienced squad,” Savanna coach Dennis Nelson said of team’s play in the fourth period. “(And) we’ve scored a lot of goals in the games we’ve won.”
Galaz finished with four goals to extend her total to a school-record and county-leading 136 goals.
Cetin and Prunchak, a sophomore, scored three goals apiece while Cetin added six steals. Savanna also set senior Carly Eirich, who scored from center in the fourth.
“I think we have a good balance,” Galaz said. “A lot of it (our success) is (because of) communication. … We’re like a family.”
Rancho Alamitos lost to Savanna twice by a combined 16 goals earlier in the season but threatened this time under assistant coach Drew Dinh, who filled in for Yuch. Dinh declined to comment on why Yuch wasn’t at the game.
Ammann paced Rancho Alamitos with four goals, including one she flipped to herself for the redirect.
Also in Division 6:
Mayfield of Pasadena 4, Garden Grove 3 (OT): Sophomore Maggie Ireland scored four goals for the Cubs (12-11), who play host to Pacifica, an 11-2 winner at Oaks Christian, in the quarterfinals.
Pacifica 11, Oaks Christian 2: Freshman Kalista Hyham netted five goals and Caroline Thorn added four to lead the visiting Mariners.
Yorba Linda 17, Cate of Carpinteria 2: Taylor Best netted six goals and Becca Stephenson made 10 saves to lead the defending champion Mustangs (23-7), who play at Santa Monica in the quarterfinals Saturday. Center Burdie Forsch added five goals for Yorba Linda.
Cypress 6, Santa Ana Valley 1: Rachel Privett made 15 saves and Dana Ramos scored three goals to help the Centurions reach the quarterfinals for the first time. Cypress plays host to No. 4 seeded Pasadena Poly on Saturday.
In the Division 2 second round:
No. 9 Rosary 10, No. 8 San Clemente 8: Jessica Hermosillo made 14 saves, including a penalty shot in the third, and Sabrina Garabet and Katie Tijerina each scored four goals to lead the Royals (20-10) past the Tritons (22-8) at Capistrano Valley. Rosary plays host to Montebello, a 16-4 winner against Great Oak, in the quarterfinals Saturday.
Agoura 11, Dana Hills 10: The visiting Dolphins (18-13) recovered from a 9-3 deficit early in the third to tie the score, 10-10, on a goal by Madison Baba with 44 seconds left, but the Chargers’ Aley Vilches scored the winning goal with 2.5 seconds to play. Baba and Molly Wilbur each scored four goals for Dana Hills.
El Toro 11, M.L. King 5: Jillian Newmyer scored four goals and Tori Rainone made 12 saves to lead the visiting Chargers, who take on top-seeded Santa Margarita in the quarterfinals. King played without leading scorer Claire Fisch (concussion).
Santa Margarita 26, Thousand Oaks 3: Haley Wan and Kelli Baumgardner each scored six goals to lead host Eagles.
Mater Dei 14, Santiago/Corona 6: Brianna Daboub scored six goals and Sydney Blubaugh added four to pace the visiting Monarchs, who play Long Beach Wilson in the quarterfinals.
In the Division 4 first round:
Aliso Niguel 9, Buena Park 6: Sydney Smith scored four goals and Anastazia Virgin made 10 saves to lead the host Wolverines (21-6). The Wolverines play at Los Altos in the quarterfinals Saturday.
La Serna 8, La Habra 6 (OT): The Highlanders pushed the 2013 runner-ups into overtime but fell at Fullerton College. Gabbi Garcia paced La Habra with three goals.
Mission Viejo 12, Pacifica/Oxnard 3: Senior Allie Moore scored four goals at Aliso Niguel to lead the Diablos, who play host to No. 4 seeded South Pasadena in the quarterfinals.
Capistrano Valley 10, Rio Mesa 5: Emily Adams made 10 saves for the visiting Cougars, who take on No. 2 Troy in the quarterfinals.
In the Division 7 first round:
Segerstrom 20, Carter of Rialto 2: Melissa Osorio made 15 saves to lead the Jaguars (21-8), who play host to Hemet in the quarterfinals Saturday.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
