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  • Foothill's Dani Ayala winds up to shoot the ball during...

    Foothill's Dani Ayala winds up to shoot the ball during a CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal game against Laguna Beach on Wednesday. The Knights won the game, 4-3.

  • Laguna Beach's Haley Evans shoots on goal during Wednesday's CIF-SS...

    Laguna Beach's Haley Evans shoots on goal during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal against Foothill High School.

  • Laguna Beach's Haley Evans shoots on goal during a CIF-SS...

    Laguna Beach's Haley Evans shoots on goal during a CIF-SS semifinal game against Foothill on Wednesday evening.

  • Foothill's Dani Ayala shoots on goal during a CIF-SS Division...

    Foothill's Dani Ayala shoots on goal during a CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal game against Laguna Beach on Wednesday. The Knights won the game, 4-3.

  • Laguna Beach's Haley Evans shoots a lob shot during Wednesday's...

    Laguna Beach's Haley Evans shoots a lob shot during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal against Foothill.

  • Foothill's Lana Gorlinski winds up to shoot the ball during...

    Foothill's Lana Gorlinski winds up to shoot the ball during a CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal game against Laguna Beach on Wednesday. The Knights won the game, 4-3.

  • Laguna Beach's Sophie Leggett shoots on goal during a CIF-SS...

    Laguna Beach's Sophie Leggett shoots on goal during a CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal game against Foothill on Wednesday evening.

  • Laguna Beach's Isabel Riches passes the ball during a CIF-SS...

    Laguna Beach's Isabel Riches passes the ball during a CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal game against Foothill on Wednesday.

  • Foothill students celebrate after the girls' water polo team beat...

    Foothill students celebrate after the girls' water polo team beat Laguna Beach 4-3 in a CIF-SS Division 1 semifinal game on Wednesday.

  • Foothill's Grace Pevehouse shoots on goal during Wednesday's CIF-SS semifinal...

    Foothill's Grace Pevehouse shoots on goal during Wednesday's CIF-SS semifinal game against Laguna Beach at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.

  • Foothill's Grace Pevehouse scored the winning goal to send the...

    Foothill's Grace Pevehouse scored the winning goal to send the Knights to the finals.

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Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Staff Mug Shot taken August 26, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.

IRVINE Foothill’s girls water polo team blocked out the ghosts Wednesday night and focused on what it does best.

As it turned out, the Knights’ best was enough to dethrone two-time defending CIF-SS Division 1 champion and its nemesis Laguna Beach.

Behind 11 saves by Kenzi Snyder and a strong power-play defense, the fifth-seeded Knights snapped an eight-game slide against the Breakers with a dramatic victory, 4-3, in the Division 1 semifinals at Woollett Aquatics Center.

Foothill (24-6) will play No. 2 seeded Orange Lutheran in the final Saturday at Woollett at a time to be announced.

“We came in just wanting to play our best and have fun and just be the team that we know we can be,” said Snyder, who blocked two late chances by the Breakers (27-3). “Beating Laguna was just a plus. … They’re a really great team.”

The power play played a major role in the outcome. Fittingly, the match ended with an extra-attacker situation.

Laguna Beach drew an exclusion with 29 seconds left, but Snyder blocked an attempt by Bella Baldridge shot off the crossbar. In the scramble for the rebound, the excluded player, a hustling Dani Ayala on the re-entry and teammate Grace Pevehouse converged and knocked the ball away just before time expired.

The Breakers finished 0 for 7 with the extra attacker; Foothill went 2 for 6.

“The thing that saves us a lot is our 5-on-6 defense,” said Pevehouse, who scored the winning goal. “It’s definitely been strong all season.”

Snyder partially blocked another shot by Laguna Beach coming out of a timeout with 1:25 left. The shot got past the senior, bounced off the bottom of the crossbar in the middle of the cage and bounced out.

Pevehouse netted the winning goal with a perimeter strike with 2:20 left, converting after a steal by Brooke Maxson.

“It definitely felt good to score and finally beat Laguna,” Pevehouse said. “We’ve been working really hard.”

Said Foothill coach Jim Brumm, “Our defense was just phenomenal. … We just played the way we’re supposed to play water polo We knew they were going to post a bunch of our players up, so we just made sure everybody was helping each other out.”

Val Ayala netted Foothill’s two power-play strikes, including one late in the first period for the first goal. Lana Gorlinski added a counterattack strike with 42 seconds left in the opening frame, netting a slick cross-cage lob after the Breakers misfired on the power-play.

Laguna Beach never led against Foothill, whom it beat by six goals twice and went 5-0 against last season, including the Division 1 final. The Breakers tied the score, 3-3, with 1:53 left in the third on a goal by Sophia Lucas. But Laguna Beach didn’t score again.

“We go 0 for whatever on 6-on-5, just get outplayed, I feel pretty badly for them,” Laguna Beach coach Ethan Damato said of his team. “I don’t feel like like I did a very good job. I love this group of girls. … Things didn’t go our way tonight. That hasn’t happened for a while. It hurts.”

Holly Parker led Laguna Beach with 10 saves.

Also in Division 1:

Orange Lutheran 8, San Marcos 6: Bailey Dillard scored twice off the bench, freshman goalie Alyssa Barnuevo blocked a penalty shot and Myna Simmons scored three goals to lead the Lancers (25-3) into their first final.

“It feels amazing, but at the same time, we got to stay humble and  we got stay hungry and keep working hard,” Orange Lutheran’s Kelsey Tyler said. “We’re not satisfied. We need one more win.”

San Marcos also struggled on the power-play, going 1 for 7. The Royals were 0 for 5 in the first half.

Orange Lutheran recovered from an early 2-0 deficit to take a 4-2 lead in the third. 

The Lancers also overcame Tyler’s foul trouble. She missed time with two fouls but helped the Trinity League champions seal the victory in the fourth. With the Lancers leading, 6-5, she field blocked a power-play chance and scored on the ensuing possession.

“Our defense really held us in the game,” Lancers coach Steve Carrera said. “The ball wasn’t going in the goal for us in the first half.”

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com