Lezak, Umezawa Key Irvine’s Overtime Victory

Chalk one up for the blue-collar players--the ones whose names you won’t find in the box score.

Erin Lezak drilled a 25-foot shot with 1 minute 44 seconds left in overtime to give Irvine a 3-2 victory over Long Beach Wilson in a Southern Section Division I girls’ water polo quarterfinal Tuesday at Belmont Plaza. But the hustle and awareness of Emi Umezawa created the opportunity.

Irvine goalkeeper Kelly Graff was impressive with 16 saves, but a tenacious team defense, especially at two meters by Lindsay Stephens, Kenna McFarland and Nicole Huszcz, often kept Wilson from getting good shots.

Fourth-seeded Irvine (23-4) will play top-seeded Capistrano Valley in a semifinal Thursday at a site to be determined.

With 2:04 left in overtime, Irvine got a six-on-five advantage and set up a play. But an errant pass sailed over Umezawa’s head and deep into the right corner.

Umezawa, a junior, scrambled after the ball and grabbed it just before it floated out of bounds. She turned and spotted Lezak open in the middle of the pool. Lezak, who also scored in the first quarter, blasted it past goalkeeper Kelsey Whalen, ending a 27-minute scoring drought for Irvine.

“A lot of people would have just bailed that ball out,” Irvine Coach Scott Hinman said. “[Umezawa] could have dumped it to the nearest open player and then we would have been trapped.”

Umezawa also made a steal with 16 seconds left that ended the last scoring threat by Wilson (23-6).

Wilson’s leading scorer, Cassie Azevedo, took eight shots but did not score. Four of those shots were blocked by Graff, the others were off target because of tenacious defenders.