STRONG PERFORMANCE: Corona del Mar's Kate Baldoni had 17 saves against Villa Park on Friday. DAN ALBANO, OCVARSITY.COM |
Corona del Mar rolls into semifinals
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The county's top-ranked team defeats No. 5 Villa Park, 7-3, in Irvine SoCal Championships.
Corona del Mar's top-ranked girls water polo team used a potent blend of speed and defense to post an impressive quarterfinal victory at the Irvine Southern California Championships on Friday night.
Goalie Kate Baldoni made 17 saves and attackers Heather Van Hiel and Allison Peotter each scored two counterattack goals as Corona del Mar rolled to a 7-3 victory against fifth-ranked and visiting Villa Park.
Corona del Mar (19-5), which plays Long Beach Wilson in Saturday's 11 a.m. semifinal at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, scored at least twice on counterattacks set up by blocks from Baldoni.
“She's an awesome goalie and she definitely got in our heads tonight,” Villa Park coach Brent Danna said of the junior. “She was reading our shooters like a book.”
Van Hiel scored on a counterattack with 2:40 left in the first half to give Corona del Mar a 4-2 lead. Corona del Mar got the chance to counter after Baldoni blocked Villa Park's Cassie Churnside on a close-range shot from the wing.
Corona del Mar later capitalized after a shot by Churnside hit a post in second period. On Corona del Mar's next possession, Victoria Kennedy blasted in a shot from center off the bottom of the crossbar for a 5-2 halftime advantage.
Corona del Mar's defense held Villa Park to a 1 for 8 effort on the power play. The Spartans' Alexis Mitchell converted the first chance in the opening period but Villa Park (16-7) missed on its next seven chances, including four in the second period.
Villa Park's tandem of Churnside and Ally Waasted entered the match with 166 goals but finished with just one.
“They're nails and they're fast and (Coach Aaron) Chaney has them playing great water polo,” Danna said of Corona del Mar, which has won 14 consecutive matches. “I'm glad I'm not in Division I.”
In other quarterfinals:
Long Beach Wilson 10, Foothill 9: The Knights' bid to capture the tournament for the fourth consecutive season ended as the Bruins rallied from a four-goal deficit going into the fourth period at El Toro.
Foothill (17-6) played most of the second half with standout Emily Klug, who fouled out with 6:11 left in the third period.
Foothill plays Villa Park on Saturday in the consolation round.
Newport Harbor 7, Coronado 3: Centers Mimi Bury and Nina McCall each scored twice at Woollett to lead second-seeded Sailors (22-3) into Saturday's 10 a.m. semifinals against third-seeded Dos Pueblos.
Dos Pueblos 6, Los Alamitos 5: Freshman Kiley Neushul scored a power-play goal with five seconds left in the fourth period to lift the Chargers (21-2) at Woollett.
The Griffins (18-6) missed a penalty shot earlier in the fourth that would have given them the lead.
“That was the best game we've played all year,” Los Alamitos coach Dave Carlson said. Neushul and Los Alamitos' Kaylee Miller each had three goals.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
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