The Orange Lutheran and Huntington Beach girls water polo players faced off as vocal cheering sections last month at their schools’ showdown in the CIF Division 1 boys water polo quarterfinals.
The girls teams got their shot at the rivalry Wednesday and didn’t hold back.
Emma Skelly scored four goals and Kelsey Tyler and Myna Simmons added three apiece as the No. 2 Lancers defeated visiting No. 10 Huntington Beach, 16-10, in the opener for both teams at Santiago Canyon College.
“All preseason we were, ‘We just want to play HB,’ ” Skelly said. “(There’s) a little rivalry with HB.”
Huntington Beach won the boys match, 10-9, in overtime, but Orange Lutheran’s girls mostly controlled their match, taking the lead for good late in the first period. Tyler added three assists.
Orange Lutheran overcame early foul trouble to Simmons (two fouls in the first period) by converting 7 of 9 chances on the power-play and netting four goals on restarts following goals by Huntington Beach.
“I’m glad that HB is as good as they are because it gives us a good way to start the year,” Orange Lutheran coach Steve Carrera said. “We may be No. 2 but we still got a lot of work to do and teams are coming in fired up to play us.”
The Lancers return most of their starting lineup from last season and the experience showed. But Orange Lutheran freshmen Hannah Palmer, Brooke Hourigan and Alyssa Barnuero also impressed.
Hourigan had two goals and six steals while Palmer scored twice and drew a penalty. Barnuero had four saves in goal.
“We are super-stoked about our freshmen,” said Skelly, a senior who signed with UCLA. “They are super hard workers and just great defenders.”
Centers Julia Rozolis-Hill and Lauren Smith each scored three goals for Huntington Beach while goalie Marina Hyham added seven saves, including three point-blank stops in the second half. Rozolis-Hill added two assists.
“We’ve been playing good water polo (in the offseason),” Huntington Beach coach Mark Canner said. “We’re finding our identity.”
In other nonleague games:
Santa Margarita 14, Dana Hills 13: Sophia Baia and Ava Perkins each scored four goals as the host Eagles held off the Dolphins. Sydney Baba netted seven goals and Maia Borisoff added four for Dana Hills.
Troy 12, La Serna of Whittier 11: Ava Mattis and Claire Schade each scored four goals to lead the visiting Warriors.
Tustin 7, Woodbridge 4: Hannah Binder scored four goals and Kalypso Fish made 10 saves to lead the Tillers (2-0).
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com