IRVINE – The high-arching lob shot from La Serna of Whittier in sudden-death overtime sailed over Troy’s defense, glanced off the goal and moved in a heart-breaking direction for the Warriors.
“Lob! Bar! In!” exclaimed veteran water polo announcer Matt McLaren. “Carissa Perez with the shot of her life!”
Yes, the final moment belonged to the standout freshman and La Serna in Saturday’s CIF-SS Division 4 girls final.
Perez’s goal with 1:05 left in the first sudden-death overtime lifted No. 8-seeded La Serna past defending champion and No. 2 seeded Troy, 5-4, at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.
The cross-cage shot was so well-placed into the upper corner, there wasn’t much Troy goalie Jessica Harris (18 saves) could do.
“That was a great shot in the end,” Troy coach Jason Wilson said. “We knew who (Perez) was. It wasn’t a surprise that she could make that shot, either. Good for them. Our girls played really, really hard, too. But somebody had to win.”
Perez, La Serna’s leading scorer with 115 goals entering the game, finished with one but it was the decisive strike the Lancers (20-9) sought.
In last season’s Division 4 final, Troy beat La Serna, 9-5.
“We were so close (last season),” La Serna goalie Jacqueline Verdugo said. “Every since Day 1 (this season), we always wanted to win.”
Troy (23-10) took its first and only lead, 4-3, in the first three-minute overtime on a cross-cage lob from the wing by Emma Armstrong on a kick-out pass from center by Shannon Grossman.
But La Serna’s Isabella Villa, niece of Olympian Brenda Villa, locked the score with a power-play strike with 1:06 left in the second three-minute overtime.
Troy’s Minna Mattis beat three defenders for a goal at center with 2:19 left in the fourth to help force overtime. Mattis then left in discomfort but returned. Wilson said the high-scoring senior has athletic asthma but was examined at a hospital after the match and released.
Both teams failed to convert penalty shots in regulation. Verdugo blocked a 5-meter penalty shot in the second period.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
