Foothill Beats Cougars Again

Foothill, the top-ranked girls’ water polo team in Orange County, scored six goals in the second and third quarters and defeated second-ranked Capistrano Valley, 8-5, in a nonleague game Wednesday at Saddleback College.

Brittany Hayes had three goals and Vickie Brown had two for Foothill, which defeated Capistrano Valley, 6-3, in Saturday’s final of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.

“I guess they’re three goals better than us,” said Jason Lynch, Capistrano Valley’s coach. “Right now, Foothill is more seasoned than any other team and everyone else has to catch up.”

Foothill (15-1) had to play catch-up in the first quarter. Capistrano Valley (12-3-1) took a 2-1 lead after UCLA signee Amber Stachowski stole the ball from Hayes and scored. Then Stachowski assisted on a goal by Gigi Seuc with 1 minute 17 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

But Hayes scored twice in the second quarter and had assists on two other first-half goals, helping Foothill take a 4-2 lead before Capistrano Valley’s Aimee Stachowski scored off a rebound with 22 seconds left in the quarter.

“For the first time this year we played a good second quarter,” said Dan Klatt, Foothill’s co-coach. “That was the best one we’ve had this season. The kids play hard every game, but we have yet to play 28 minutes of smart water polo.”

That could be a scary thought for opponents, considering the Knights scored three goals--by Brown, Crystal Carroll and Hayes--in a 1:13 span in the third quarter against the second-ranked team in the county.

The Cougars only goals in the second half came on two four-meter penalty shots by Amber Stachowski, who finished with three goals. Stachowski also drew both fouls to set up the four-meter shots, but was double- and triple-teamed throughout the game.

The rest of the Cougars couldn’t find the range from outside.

“We’ve won games this season from the outside,” Lynch said. “We have people who can shoot. It wasn’t a matter of confidence against Foothill. It’s just execution.

“I think everyone will close the gap on Foothill, I just don’t know if it’ll be enough.”

In the Sea View League:

No. 3 Newport Harbor 16, Laguna Hills 4--Jenna Booth scored all three of her goals during a seven-goal first period for host Newport Harbor.

In the Sunset League:

Edison 8, No. 5 Los Alamitos 3--Melissa Murphy had three goals and two steals, Ashley Bookspan had two goals and three steals and Ali Malczynski scored two goals for the Chargers (10-5, 2-0). Drue Wawrzynski scored twice for Los Alamitos (12-6, 1-1).

No. 7 Marina 9, Esperanza 7--Erin Wilson scored three goals and Kendra Shanley added two for the host Vikings (8-7-1, 1-1).