Foothill Knocks Off Long Beach Wilson

Foothill ended Long Beach Wilson’s four-year grip on the Southern Section Division I water polo title, upsetting the Bruins, 8-4, in the semifinals Saturday at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center.

It was the fourth time in five years that the teams have met in the playoffs and the first time the Knights came out on top. Wilson defeated Foothill in 1996 and ’97 for the title and eliminated the Knights in last season’s quarterfinals.

Third-seeded Foothill was the underdog after getting blown out twice this season by the second-seeded Bruins (20-5). But Foothill Coach Jim Brumm said the Knights are now a different team.

“This is unbelievable,” Brumm said. “The kids just played unbelievable. We believed we could win and we believed in ourselves.”

The Knights’ defense was dominant, shutting out Bruin scoring leader James Shin and holding Wilson scoreless on five of seven man-advantage opportunities.

Foothill goalkeeper Ian Elliott had 11 saves, including a crucial stop on a four-meter penalty shot by Shin that would have cut Foothill’s lead to 6-3. Instead, Foothill took the ball on the counter and Elliott sent a long pass to Blake Seymour, who scored with 4 minutes 45 seconds remaining to give Foothill a 7-2 lead. Wes Fox led the Knights with four goals.

“You win games with offense, but you win championships with defense,” Brumm said.

The Knights will play top-seeded Newport Harbor for the championship at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. The Sailors defeated Foothill, 11-8, earlier this season.

In the other Division I semifinal:

Newport Harbor 12, El Toro 6--Ryan Cook had seven goals and four assists for the top-seeded Sailors (26-5), who avenged last season’s sudden-death loss to El Toro in the semifinals.

“I have good games when it is a situation like this,” Cook said. “I always get pumped up for games like this.”

Newport took a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, but El Toro (19-12) rallied to tie the score, 3-3. That is when Cook took charge, scoring two of the Sailors’ four second-quarter goals and assisting on the others.

Peter Belden and the Sailor defense held El Toro’s Brett McCleave, one of the county’s best two-meter players, to two goals. He finished the season with 148 goals.