Costa Mesa girls’ water polo squeezes past Aliso Niguel in first round
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Costa Mesa High School‘s girls’ water polo team, a young group working toward the future after losing so much experience following a run to the CIF Southern Section Division 5 championship match two years ago and last year’s pandemic-abbreviated campaign.
Costa Mesa (16-9) shattered such notions Tuesday, using a tactical adjustment to close down the attack of Aliso Niguel (15-14) and a brisk counter to take charge in the second half, emerging with a 7-6 triumph in a Division 3 first-round showdown against a foe that had easily handled them in two previous meetings.
Goalkeeper Dharma Andreas led a superb defensive effort. Aubree Jackson, Morgan Taylor and Mikaela Smith scored two goals apiece, and sophomore Adelaide Juelfs provided the winner, converting a 5-meter penalty shot with a little more than five minutes to go — her 102nd goal of the season — to send the Orange Coast League champions to a second-round face-off with second-seeded Woodbridge (16-4).
“[We’ve exceeded what we expected] by far,” head coach Dustin Serrano said. “After having a fantastic season with a heavy-senior team, and moving up from D5 to D3 — that’s a huge jump — even to win one round [in the playoffs], I can’t be more happy and excited.”
Aliso Niguel had posted 15-4 and 9-5 victories over the Mustangs in tournament meetings two months apart, but a switch to a “zone and drop” defense made penetration difficult for the Wolverines and fueled a fastbreak in which attackers burst forward before the ball was recovered. It was critical as Costa Mesa conceded just once from seven six-on-five disadvantages, none after the first quarter.
Andreas made several big stops. Aliso Niguel repeatedly shot high, and the Mustangs found defensive precision after Jackson, Taylor and Smith each committed two major fouls, one from fouling out, by halftime.
It was 3-3 at the break, every goal coming from 5 meters or on a power play. Emily Lipscomb converted penalty shots 70 seconds apart to give the Wolverines their sole lead late in the first half, and Smith pulled Costa Mesa even on a 5-meter shot a minute later.
The Mustangs took 4-3 and 6-4 leads in the third quarter, with Jackson finishing a counter, Taylor restoring the lead 44 seconds later and Smith tallying on a six-on-five 35 seconds after that. Aliso Niguel pulled even again on Emily Lynch’s power-play lob at the end of the quarter and a Reyna Palfreyman shot to the upper-left corner early in the fourth.
Juelfs scored the winner 19 seconds later, drawing and converting a 5-meter shot from an Amanda McFadden foul, and Costa Mesa held on through the final six Wolverines possessions. McFadden hit the post with the game’s final shot.
“We came in and didn’t have anything to lose,” Taylor said. “As soon as we got up, we started feeling confident and the ball started rolling [for us]. ... We were kind of the underdogs this season. They, obviously, thought they were coming into an easy game, and we like to show them we’re nothing to be played with.”
Also in the CIF Southern Section girls’ water polo playoffs:
Fountain Valley 7, Hemet 6: The visiting Barons opened the Division 5 playoffs with a narrow win over the Bulldogs, who were the second-place team out of the Sunbelt League this season.
Fountain Valley (16-12), which received an at-large selection after finishing tied with Marina for third place in the Wave League, will play host to Cerritos (8-12) on Thursday at Westminster High School. The opening sprint is at 5 p.m.
Staff writer Andrew Turner contributed to this report.
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