CdM still stingy, earns trip to title game

IRVINE - Corona del Mar's girls water polo team used a strong defensive effort Wednesday night to reach another CIF-SS Division I final.

The top-seeded Sea Kings held No. 5 Foothill to one second-half goal en route to a 7-3 semifinal victory at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.

Corona del Mar (29-1) plays No. 2 Dos Pueblos of Goleta (27-3) in the finals Saturday night at 8 at Woollett. The Sea Kings went 2-1 against the Chargers this season.

Last season, the Sea Kings lost to rival Newport Harbor in the Division I final.

Senior goalie Kate Baldoni finished with 14 saves as Corona del Mar held Foothill to a 1-for-7 effort on the power play.

Corona del Mar led, 5-3, going into the fourth period but made two key stops against the Knights' power-play early in the quarter.

"That was the key — our five-on-six defense was good tonight," Corona del Mar coach Aaron Chaney said.

Corona del Mar also scored two of its biggest goals quickly after stopping the Knights (18-11) on the power play.

In third period, Heather Van Hiel led a counterattack after a defensive stand. The attacker drew an exclusion that Kate Berry converted for a 5-2 lead with 1:18 left in the period. Berry scored on a cross pass Leslee Kaczmarek.

Then in the fourth period, Corona del Mar blocked a power-play shot in the field and forced a turnover. That defensive stand led to the first goal of the fourth period, a cross-cage strike by Elise Molnar, who made it 6-3.

Chaney said his squad strong team defense.

"We pressed No. 2 (Kelli Boling)," he said. "I (didn't) want her shooting the ball. I (didn't) want No. 10 (Brittany Zwirner) shooting the ball."

And when Foothill did get off shots, Baldoni was there for the block most of the night.

"Just a stud in the cage," Chaney said.

In the other semifinal:

Dos Pueblos of Goleta 9, Newport Harbor 8: Kiley Neushul had five goals and two assists as the Chargers held off the No. 3 Sailors (23-7).

Dos Pueblos led, 9-6, with just over four minutes left, but the Sailors made a late surge.

Kaleigh Gilchrist scored on a lob shot from center with 4:07 and Nina McCall later drew a penalty on a counterattack.

Gilchrist (four goals) converted the throw to trim the deficit to 9-8 with 2:44 left. But the Sailors got no closer.

Newport Harbor goalie Kristen Burger stopped a late penalty shot by Neushul but Dos Pueblos' Tiera Schroeder made a steal at 2 meters with 23 seconds left to seal the victory.

Both teams struggled on the power play. Newport Harbor finished 1 for 6.

"We didn't play very well," Newport Harbor coach Bill Barnett said. "We had a lot of opportunities to score the ball and couldn't do it."

Dos Pueblos goalie Sami Hill certainly contributed to Newport Harbor's struggles on the power play. Hill made three of her 10 saves when the Sailors had the extra attacker.

Throughout the match, Newport Harbor often shot toward Hill's right hand. The junior wore a foam brace on the hand because she suffered a chipped bone in her thumb late in the regular season.

"It's good," Hill said of her thumb.

Dos Pueblos went 2 for 7 on the power play but Neushul helped pick up the slack by scoring four goals from the perimeter. She highlighted her effort with a first-period goal in which she she scored from about 5 meters on a cross pass. Neushul had two defenders drapped on her and just released the shot before going under water.

"She was great," Barnett said of the sophomore. "She was very significant in their scoring. Even if she didn't score, she set up things."

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com