Still No. 1

Bryce Alderton

Undefeated and still the team to beat as Foothill High’s Lady

Knights rule the seas in high school water polo.

That’s how it is following Foothill’s 6-3 nonleague victory over

Corona del Mar for the second time this season.

The Knights (9-0) maintained their top ranking Wednesday in the

CdM pool. The Lady Knights beat CdM (7-2) , 10-7, in the semifinals

of the Newport Harbor-Corona del Mar Holiday Classic Dec. 28.

“I want to play them again,” said CdM Coach Aaron Chaney.

“Foothill does so well to counter and they have a great goalie. Our

passing and the six-on-fives hurt us.”

The Sea Kings, ranked No. 2 by the Times, went 2-for-12 on the

player-advantage while the Knights went 1-for-4.

“We would make one bad pass on the six-on-five and it would take

us 10 seconds to get the ball back in,” Chaney said. “We didn’t

convert but give a lot of credit to their defense. They would foul

one person and move back to seal off any openings. You only get that

opening for one second.”

Three of CdM’s 12 player-advantage situations occurred in the

third period as Foothill made stops in the defensive end and scored

on the counterattack. Freshman Grace Reynolds scored the third of her

three goals on a pass from Gabbie Domanic to put Foothill up, 5-2, as

the third period ended.

CdM sophomore goalie Brittany Fullen made a game-high 11 saves,

three coming in the final period to keep CdM within striking

distance. Fullen’s most impressive save came on a penalty shot on

Brittany Hayes seconds into the second period. Hayes added to her

team-leading goal total with two more Wednesday to give her 34 on the

season.

Chaney was impressed with his defense, especially that of Fullen.

“That’s the best game she’s had all year,” he said.

Stanford-bound CdM senior Christina Hewko, who scored once on five

shots and added an assist, also drew two ejections.

“We had so many opportunities, but we didn’t put our shots away,”

Hewko said. “We had trouble moving our offense and getting the ball

up quickly. We could have played 100% better.”

CdM senior Danielle Carlson gave the hosts their only lead at 1-0

with 6:20 remaining in the second period before the Knights outscored

the Sea Kings, 3-1, to close out the half and lead, 3-2. Jessica

Harkins, swimming just to the left of the net, took a pass from Hewko

and fired the ball into the goal to tie the score, 2-2, with 2:34

left in the half.

The Sea Kings had their chances. Trailing, 5-2, with a six-on-five

situation with 5:06 in the final period, Carlson found herself open

at four meters with no one within three meters of her but a late

entry pass allowed the defense to get back and goalie Emily Feher

made the point-blank save.

“I can’t say our offense hurt us, we had a lot of kick-outs,”

Chaney said. “(Foothill) fouls, drops back and presses.”

Corona del Mar was an 8-3 winner in the frosh-soph game, paced by

Katie Kubas’ three goals.

In the junior varsity game, Corona del Mar prevailed, 5-4, led by

Jordan Anae’s two goals.

Nonleague

Foothill 6, CdM 3

Score by Quarters

Foothill 0 3 2

1 -- 6

CdM 0 2 0

1 -- 3

Foothill -- Reynolds 3, Hayes 2, Domanic 1. Saves --

Feher 8.

CdM -- Carlson 1, Harkins 1, Christina Hewko 1. Saves -- Fullen

11.

In a Golden West League game Wednesday:

The Estancia High girls water polo team opened Golden West League

competition with a 25-2 loss to Westminster, which some consider the

league’s leading title contender, at Golden West College.

Senior Marilyn Reich scored both Estancia goals in the fourth

quarter, while senior goalie Laura Morton had four saves for the

Eagles (0-5).

Westminster led, 20-0, after three periods.

Golden West League

Westminster 25, Estancia 2

Score by Quarters

Estancia 0 0 0

2 -- 2

Westminster 9 5 6

5 -- 25

Estancia -- Reich 2. Saves -- Morton 4.

Westminster -- Retano 8, Sabrowski 5, Lee 2, Barron 4,

Morgan 3, Coune 2, Ernst 1. Saves -- Morgan 4.