Foothill Puts Up a Wall, Overcomes Esperanza

Unseeded Foothill turned up the defensive pressure and surprisingly squashed top-seeded Esperanza, 9-5, in a Southern Section Division I girls’ water polo semifinal Friday at El Dorado High.

Freshman goalie Emily Feher had eight saves to highlight a strong defense and Jackie Pirro scored three goals to lead a balanced offense for the Knights, who advanced to play Irvine in Wednesday’s section championship game at Belmont Plaza.

“It was just a great effort from Foothill,” Esperanza Coach Max Miyahara said. “We ran into a wall.”

Feher made several outstanding saves for Foothill, including a stop on a four-meter penalty shot early in the fourth quarter to preserve a four-goal cushion and prevent Esperanza from building any momentum for a rally.

Foothill (21-7) pulled away from Esperanza (24-5) in the second quarter, with senior Daylene Coberly and freshmen Gabbie Domanic and Brittany Hayes scoring goals in a 2 1/2-minute span to help the Knights to a 5-2 halftime lead.

Esperanza never drew closer than three the rest of the way.

Esperanza’s leading scorer, Teresa Guidi, was held scoreless, although she did assist on two of Theresa Conner’s four goals.

Earlier this season, Esperanza (24-5) defeated Foothill, 8-7, starting a run in which the Aztecs won 18 of 20 heading into Friday’s game.

“I thought it was going to be a one-goal game,” Foothill Coach Dave Mikesell said. “Esperanza was playing the best ball. They were the team to beat.

“But throughout the playoffs, it’s been all about defense for us. It was just a tremendous effort by the girls. And if Emily isn’t the best goalie in all of CIF . . .”

Feher will get her chance to go head-to-head with one of the county’s best goalies in the final when Foothill meets second-seeded Irvine and senior Kelly Graff.

But Foothill’s defense wasn’t the only reason the Knights reached their first section title game. Friday’s game provided further proof of the explosiveness and diversity of Foothill’s attack.

The six starting field players scored for Foothill including junior Jo Graf, who had two goals.

Vickie Brown scored Foothill’s final goal with 4 1/2 minutes left, a shot from five meters that deflected off an Esperanza defender and past Aztec goalie Kelsi Mills.

“They shot the heck out of the ball,” Miyahara said. “And it seemed like all the bounces went their way.”

In another Division I game:

Irvine 8, El Toro 7 (OT)--Kristi Riedel scored the game-winner with 21 seconds remaining in overtime for the Vaqueros (25-3). El Toro (19-10) led, 7-6, but Irvine’s Lindsay Stephens scored her second goal with a minute remaining to tie it, 7-7.

In Division IV:

Corona del Mar 5, Santa Monica 4--Lauren Guthrie and Danielle Carlson each scored two goals and Lindsay Daley scored one for unseeded Corona del Mar (20-11), which advanced to the final to play top-seeded Santa Margarita, an 8-3 winner over University.

Marta Altamirano scored three goals for Santa Monica (22-8).