No. 3 Foothill ties El Toro late, wins in OT

SANTA ANA – Foothill's girls water polo team knew El Toro would be a difficult opponent Wednesday night.

"They're a great team with a lot of great players," Foothill junior Brenna Thomas said.

The Knights were correct but the challenge turned out even tougher than the rankings suggested.

Division 1-contending Foothill, ranked third in the county, needed a goal in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime and a perimeter strike by Thomas in overtime to sink the Division 2 Chargers, 11-10, in a wild, nonleague match at Foothill.

Seventh-ranked El Toro (4-5) was seconds away from posting arguably the biggest upset of the young season. But coming out of a timeout, Foothill's Nicole Stansfield fired in a cross-cage shot from about 6 meters off a side-post with three seconds left to force overtime.

"We're not trying to provide this much entertainment to our parents," Foothill coach Jeff Colton said, jokingly.

El Toro used its 2-meter attack to open a 7-4 lead at halftime. Allison Skaggs scored twice from center in the second period and the emerging Delaney Riley added another. Skaggs finished with a match-high five goals.

Foothill (7-1) responded by scoring five consecutive goals in the third period to open a 9-7 lead.

The Knights turned up the defensive pressure in the frame. Freshman Katie Hungerford made a key steal near mid-pool late in the period, setting up the go-ahead goal by McKenna Mitchell on a counterattack with 1:40 left.

Foothill freshman Emily Konishi also scored from the perimeter in the third, cutting El Toro's lead to 7-6.

The Knights' depth showed as Colton played nine field players off his bench.

"We've got a lot of girls," Colton said. "We pressed better (in the third). We countered better."

But El Toro responded in the fourth period by scoring three consecutive goals to take a 10-9 lead. Valerie Spezzaferri tied it, 9-9, on a power-play strike with 4:20 left in the fourth and knocked a perimeter shot in off the post with 3:33 remaining to give the Chargers a 10-9 lead.

It was an impressive fourth-period surge for a squad that played Division 1 Los Alamitos on Tuesday.

"My girls didn't miss a beat," said El Toro coach Racc Julson. "It would have been easy for them to fold."

But Foothill's big-game experience from its playoff run last season surfaced late. After Stansfield forced overtime, Thomas scored on a counterattack with 50 seconds left in the first, 3-minute overtime.

"We play well under pressure and it comes out when we have to go overtime," said Thomas, who finished with three goals. "That has a lot to do with last season."

Last season in the playoffs, Foothill upset Los Alamitos and Corona del Mar in overtime.

El Toro goalie Emily Browning was tough in the second 3-minute overtime, making four of her 14 saves. The junior blocked back-to-back shots on the power-play and also stopped Thomas on a breakaway.

The Chargers went 5 for 5 on the power-play; Foothill finished 1 for 7.

"That third period killed us," Julson said. "You take one of those goals away, we win the game. ... We've had a really good season so far. Our record doesn't show it."

Foothill goalie Kelsey Roland also finished with 14 saves, including six in the critical third period. Stansfield also added three goals.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com