The stakes were raised for Villa Park’s girls water polo team as it faced a sharp opponent before a larger than normal crowd Wednesday.
The scenario created some nervous moments for the Spartans in the CIF-SS Division 3 semifinals against Righetti.
But Villa Park responded like the No. 1 seed. The Spartans rattled off nine consecutive goals to defeat Righetti, 11-7, at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine to reach their first section final since 2006.
“We were able to take a breath, play our own game (and) everyone got involved more,” said Villa Park senior Lindsy Peterson. “I remember our coach … said ‘relax’ and we all got our heads in the game.”
Villa Park (23-9), seeking its first CIF title, plays second-seeded Redondo in the final Saturday. Redondo was an 8-5 winner against Santiago of Corona on Wednesday.
Righetti (20-8) spread its offense well early and drew exclusions to help open a 4-2 lead with less than three minutes left in the first half. But Villa Park exploded for a 9-0 run to take an 11-4 lead into the final two minutes of the fourth period.
Peterson and senior Bri Portales each scored five goals for Villa Park while senior goalie Morgan Stiewig added eight saves. Senior Victoria Vega scored once and had three steals.
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“(Righetti) had a really strong first quarter,” Villa Park coach Zach Larkin said. “There were a lot of nerves. … Once the girls played for a little bit, they were able to block that out and just realized that this is water polo. We know what we’re doing.”
Peterson sparked the run with a counterattack strike with 2:42 left in the first half off a save by Stiewig against the power-play. Peterson also scored the go-ahead goal with 2:53 left in the third by stretching for a cross pass in front of the goal by Portales.
In Division 4:
Canyon 10, Claremont 6: Elizabeth Horan made 11 saves as the visiting and top-seeded Comanches (24-8) pulled away in the second half to reach the finals for the first time. Canyon plays Peninsula, a 12-3 winner against South Pasadena, in the final.
In Division 5:
Pasadena Poly 6, Santa Ana Valley 4 (OT): Sophomore Samantha Martinez made 18 saves at Ocean View, but the Falcons (24-8) fell to the top-seed Panthers in overtime. Pasadena Poly plays Xavier Prep, which edged Tesoro, 8-7, in the final.
Xavier Prep 8, Tesoro 7: Kavina Shah made 12 saves and Emily Diacono had two goals and three steals for the Titans at Indio.
Contact the writer: dalbano@scng.com
