San Clemente holds off El Toro with strong finish

San Clemente struggled with its 6-on-5 attack through three quarters before finding the touch in the final minutes Thursday to spoil El Toro's return to the South Coast League.

It lifted the sixth-ranked Tritons over No. 7 El Toro, 11-9, in girls water polo at El Toro in the league opener for both teams.

"It's what we were expecting," said first-year coach and San Clemente alum Logan Powell. "A game like this it comes down to a couple of shots and we happened to get better execution."

Thursday's meeting marked the first South Coast match between the teams since 2005, after which El Toro (6-4, 0-1) left for the Sea View League. Back then, the teams met only once in league, but a new format this season has them playing twice in league.

"Having a game like this early is an opportunity to get better," El Toro coach Daniel Julson said. "Hopefully we'll get the win the next time."

El Toro led 9-8 after Karen Henry's second goal with 5:50 remaining in the contest. However, San Clemente (9-2, 1-0) responded with three unanswered goals to prevail, all coming off exclusions from El Toro.

The first led to Kelsey Thornton converting a penalty shot to tie the match at 9 with 5:20 left. Thornton followed two minutes later with her third goal to give San Clemente a 10-9 lead.

Mallory McCammon closed the match with her third goal off the final exclusion call with two minutes to play. It was the Tritons' first 6-on-5 goals in six tries, including going 0-for-3 in the second quarter.

El Toro ended the match with eight exclusions to San Clemente's three.

"We haven't spent a lot of time on it yet," Powell said of his team's 6-on-5 play. "I jumped on late and we haven't gotten around to everything I've wanted yet."

In other girls water polo:

In the Freeway League:

Troy 10, Sonora 6: Holly Smith scored five goals and Kirsten Spicer made 13 saves to lead the host Warriors (13-6, 1-0).

In the Empire League:

Cypress 14, Yorba Linda 8: Denise Mejia and Lindsey Schippers each scored four goals to help lead the host Centurions (6-5, 1-1) past the Mustangs (7-7, 1-1).