Marina Takes Early Lead, Hangs On Against Irvine

Precise outside shooting spotted Marina an early lead before it eventually posted a 9-5 victory over Irvine in the semifinals of the Southern Section Division I girls’ water polo playoffs Thursday at Corona del Mar High.

The second-seeded Vikings also used some tough defense to advance to Monday’s final at Belmont Plaza. Marina will face top-seeded Long Beach Wilson, which defeated Newport Harbor in the other semifinal, 8-4.

Marina junior Lauren Muschetto scored two first-quarter goals--both on perimeter shots in an 86-second span--and freshman Cara Chlebicki scored another from seven meters to set the tone and give the Vikings the lead, 3-1, in the first quarter.

Then second-quarter goals by Jenny Lamb (two goals), Erin Wilson (two goals) and Kirstin Rich pushed Marina (23-5) ahead at halftime, 6-1, and Irvine (20-8) never recovered.

“That was the best outside shooting I’ve seen this year,” Irvine Coach Scott Hinman said. “[Muschetto] pegged the top right-hand corner of the net twice in the first quarter.

“They didn’t get much at two meters against us. But they shot very well from the perimeter. And when a team’s on fire like that, there’s not much you can do.”

Marina’s defense was equally effective, holding Irvine’s leading scorer, Erin Lezak, scoreless for three quarters. Lezak didn’t score until 4 minutes 43 seconds remained in the fourth quarter.

Irvine fell behind, 7-1, managing only one goal from Nicole Huszcz (three goals) in the first 16 1/2 minutes. Lamb (eight steals), Chlebicki (five steals) and goalie Candice Chick (10 saves) anchored the Vikings’ defense.

Irvine outscored Marina in the second half, 4-3.

In the other Division I semifinal:

Long Beach Wilson 8, Newport Harbor 4--Wilson led, 4-1, after one quarter and, 6-1, at halftime in the first semifinal at Corona del Mar High. Cat Bell scored four goals and Brianne Barth added three for the Bruins (27-0).

Autumn Milliken and Jocelyn Manderino each scored one goal and sophomore Kyndra Cox scored two fourth-quarter goals for the Sailors (20-8).

Cox’s second goal converted a six-on-five situation to make it 7-4 with 3:37 remaining, and she had a chance to cut the lead to two on the Sailors’ next possession. But her shot hit the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Bell scored her fourth goal on a lob over Newport Harbor goalie Erin Kennedy (11 saves) to seal it.