Roundup: Dos Pueblos thwarts CdM's valiant effort

NEWPORT BEACH – Corona del Mar trailed arguably the best girls water polo team in the nation by one goal going into fourth period Friday night.

And despite the impressive list of accomplishments belonging to their opponent, the No. 3 Sea Kings still believed they could claim the Holiday Cup title.

"This is our game!" a Corona del Mar player shouted in the team huddle before the fourth period.

The Sea Kings had reasons to believe in themselves during and after their encounter with Dos Pueblos of Goleta at Newport Harbor.

They pushed the Chargers like no team has so far this season. But Dos Pueblos pushed back in the second half and defended its title with a 9-7 victory.

The two-time defending CIF-SS Division 1 champion extended its winning streak to 46 but didn't break Corona del Mar's spirit.

"We have faith in each other, especially the way we've been playing this tournament," Corona del Mar junior Pippa Saunders said. "We're just closing the gap (with Dos Pueblos). ... We're going to get there."

Dos Pueblos (10-0) defeated Corona del Mar, 6-3, in the teams' season opener Dec. 3. Friday's match had a different feel.

Corona del Mar (4-4) scored on four of five shots in the first period to open a 4-2 lead. The Sea Kings also led, 5-3, at halftime.

Dos Pueblos didn't take its first lead until 52 seconds left in the third period. In a sequence that defined the second half, Dos Pueblos' press bottled up a brief counterattack chance and forced Corona del Mar to dump the ball. About 10 seconds later, U.S. national team attacker Kiley Neushul scored from center to put the Chargers up for good, 6-5.

"Kiley is just scary fast," Saunders said of the Stanford signee, who had a match-high four goals. "She doesn't really let up."

Corona del Mar didn't either. Lefty Ally McCormick scored on extra to trim Dos Pueblos' lead to 7-6 with 3:38 left in the fourth period.

But Dos Pueblos responded with a timeout play for Tiera Schroeder, who popped free and skipped in a goal for an 8-6 lead with 3:30 left.

Dos Pueblos' Jamie Neushul, the sophomore sister of Kiley, later added a 6-on-4 power-play goal to make it 9-6 with 1:31 left. Jamie Neushul's strike came after Corona del Mar had one of its power-play shots bounce off the post.

Corona del Mar finished 2 for 8 with the extra attacker, including 1 for 4 in the final seven minutes. Dos Pueblos ended 4 for 8.

But Corona del Mar competed until the end. Cassidy Papa scored the final goal of the match with 18 seconds left.

Dos Pueblos coach Chris Parrish called the Holiday Cup final his team's toughest match this season.

"They stayed with us and jumped on us early," he said of Corona del Mar. "It was a great way for us to finish up. ... (We have a) little bit of fire left."

McCormick scored two of her team-high three goals in the first period. Diana Murphy also scored twice from center in the first. Goalie Alex Musselman added nine saves to cap a strong day.

In the second semifinal:

Corona del Mar edged No. 4 Laguna Beach, 8-7, on a goal by Saunders with 26 seconds left in the second three-minute overtime. Saunders scored on a cross-cage lob shot coming out of a timeout.

The Sea Kings outscored the short-hander Breakers, 3-1, in the second-three minute overtime. Laguna Beach played without starters Yoshi Andersen and Melena Masson, who fouled out in the first overtime.

After Saunders' goal, Laguna Beach fired three good shot at Musselman. Jessie Holechek blasted the first shot off the side post. Musselman than blocked a shot from 2 meters with about 11 seconds left. And in the closing seconds, Holechek had another hard shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and float out.

Musselman finished with 16 saves.

Laguna Beach finished 4 for 6 on extra with four different players -- Masson, Lida DeGroote, Sydney Saxe and Lexie Del Toro -- scoring.

In the first semifinal:

Dos Pueblos scored the first five goals en route to a 12-9 victory against No. 5 Foothill.

The Knights got back in the game by converting 6 of 8 power-play chances. Nicole Stansfield and Kelli Boling each scored twice on extra. Goalie Kelsey Roland added seven saves for Foothill.

Jamie Neushul scored a match-high five goals for Dos Pueblos.

In the third-place match:

No. 4 Laguna Beach 9, No. 5 Foothill 8: Yoshi Andersen snapped a 7-7 tie in the fourth with a perimeter strike from 7 meters and added another goal about two minutes later to help lift the Breakers to the bronze. Anderson and Foothill's Jessie Porter each scored five goals.

In the fifth-place match:

Newport Harbor 5, Santa Barbara 2: The host Sailors (7-1) never trailed and got 14 saves from UCLA commit Sarah Wilkey. Five different players scored for Newport Harbor.

In the seventh-place match:

Santa Margarita 11, Palos Verdes 8: Senior Carina Carballo and freshman Haley Wan each scored three goals as the Eagles bounced back from a 10-8 loss to Santa Barbara in the fifth-place semifinals.