Newport Harbor Wins a Record-Setting Game

The Southern Section Division I championship game was the highest-scoring final since girls’ water polo became a sanctioned sport in 1997-98, so naturally it came down to defense.

Newport Harbor goalkeeper Elizabeth Layton made four of her 12 saves in overtime and Kally Lucas scored with 1 minute 20 seconds left in overtime for the top-seeded Sailors, who outlasted third-seeded Montebello, 14-13, Tuesday night at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. It is the third section title for Newport Harbor (27-4), which also won in 1999 and 2004.

Layton, a senior, said she took responsibility for giving up so many goals in regulation and promised to focus better in overtime. She did just that, stuffing a Priscilla Orozco shot from two meters and two shots by Kimberly Romero.

“I kept telling myself, ‘Nothing goes in, nothing, nothing, nothing,’ ” Layton said. “In overtime I just zoned into the game.”

Lucas did the rest. She zipped a 20-foot shot past Montebello goalie Eliana Arellano for the game-winner, but she did most of her damage in the fourth quarter, when she scored four of her game-high seven goals to help erase an 11-9 Montebello lead after three quarters. Her power-play goal with 33 seconds left in regulation tied the score, 13-13.

Daisy Carrillo led Montebello (24-7) with six goals, five of which came in the second half. Orozco added four goals for the Oilers, who trailed, 5-3, after the first quarter but rallied for a 7-6 halftime lead.

Peter Yoon

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Santa Barbara 8, Agoura 7 -- Junior driver Cortney Collyer scored from about five meters with eight seconds left to break a 7-7 tie and lift second-seeded Santa Barbara to the victory over top-seeded Agoura at Oxnard Rio Mesa that gave the Dons their fourth Division IV championship in a row and eighth title in nine seasons.

The Dons (19-12), who graduated six key players from last year’s championship team, had lost twice to Agoura (26-6) this season.

Santa Barbara’s tight defense and opportunistic offense prevailed as the Dons clawed back from a 4-0, second-quarter deficit, tied the score twice in the third quarter, and led, 6-5, going into the fourth.

Collyer, who finished with two goals, made a key steal to give Santa Barbara the ball with 18 seconds left. “We knew it was a really big game, but we just went out there and tried to do the best we could,” said Emily Martin, who had two goals and two assists for the Dons.

Meghan Corso had two goals and an assist for Agoura.

Lauren Peterson

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Riverside Arlington 7, Murrieta Valley 6 -- Britany Koralewski scored two of her game-high five goals in overtime, including a power-play shot that gave top-seeded Arlington (25-5) a 7-5 lead and, eventually, its third Division V title. The game was played at Belmont Plaza.

Second-seeded Murrieta Valley (29-4) got a power-play goal from Kelsie Arnold that made the score 7-6 with 1:49 left in overtime, but the Nighthawks turned the ball over on their final two possessions. Arlington’s Melissa deJonckheere, who had five steals, sealed the victory when she stole the ball with 25 seconds remaining.

Arlington took a 5-4 lead on Ashley deJonckheere’s left-handed lob shot with 50 seconds left in regulation, but Arnold answered on a 20-foot power-play goal with 27 seconds left.

Downey 5, El Segundo 3 -- The top-seeded Vikings (30-3) scored three goals in the fourth quarter at Belmont Plaza, two in the final two minutes, and won their second consecutive Division VI title.

Second-seeded El Segundo (21-8) had a chance to tie when trailing, 4-3, but Coral Kemp’s shot from 15 feet sailed over the goal with less than 10 seconds left. Karen Aguirre added a breakaway goal for Downey as time expired.

Downey led, 2-0, at halftime, but El Segundo tied it on goals by Kemp and Danielle Sandford in the first three minutes of the third quarter.

The teams exchanged goals early in the fourth for a 3-3 tie with four minutes to play before Andi Land whizzed a 20-foot shot past El Segundo goalie Jessica Budke with 1:57 remaining.

-- Peter Yoon