Flintridge Prep girls’ water polo earns second straight trip to CIF championship
PASADENA — One win and one opponent separated the Flintridge Prep girls’ water polo team from earning a spot in a second successive CIF Southern Section title match.
Against Mark Keppel in the Division VI semifinal contest Wednesday, the Rebels were put on alert in the early going.
The host Rebels regrouped and settled in late in the first quarter after taking a three-goal lead. Although the Aztecs chipped away at the margin, the visitors were unable to keep their momentum going.
Flintridge Prep booked its trip the CIF Division VI title match after it defeated No. 4 Mark Keppel, 9-4, at Pasadena Poly.
“We’re ecstatic,” Flintridge Prep coach Andrew Phillips said. “We’re very happy. We’re super proud of our girls. That’s a great team over there, Mark Keppel. They’ve made it all the way to a CIF semifinal and we know exactly what that’s like going up against Carpinteria [last season] and their path to get here. Hats off to them.
“Our girls pulled it together and it’s about the team that executed. We executed today and we’re looking forward to the CIF final.”
Flintridge Prep, which toppled the top-seed Laguna Hills in the quarterfinals after playoff wins against Louisville and Western, will make its second straight title appearance after the Rebels fell short last season in the Division VII title match, losing to Katella, 5-4.
The CIF Division VI championship will be at the William Wollett Jr. Aquatic Center in Irvine on Saturday at a time to be determined. Flintridge Prep will face Marina, which earned an 8-7 win against El Modena on Wednesday in its semifinal.
The Rebels (17-9), the Prep League runner-up, received four goals from sophomore Elise Desjarlais and three from junior Natalie Kaplanyan. Rebels senior Makena Walklett scored once and had two assists.
Flintridge Prep goalkeeper Lauren Bennett registered 17 saves, five coming in the opening minutes of the first quarter.
“She had a great game,” said Phillips of Bennett. “Very, very clutch first quarter. Fantastic. Set the pace for everyone else. If she let a couple of goals in, it could’ve been a completely different game morale-wise. She had probably one of her best CIF games so far. Really, really great job.”
The Aztecs (19-9; Almont Pass League runner-up) were led by Alyssa Lopez-Ramírez with two goals. Goalkeeper Amy Chui recorded 13 saves.
The Aztecs had an aggressive start and mounted a number of opportunities on goal, as Bennett made five saves to keep the match scoreless midway in the first quarter.
The Rebels broke through at 2:38 in the first with the opening goal coming from Kaplanyan. The junior doubled the Rebels’ lead, 2-0, at 1:44 of the quarter after she picked up the rebound on a blocked shot by Walklett.
“We definitely try to start out strong every single game,” Kaplanyan said. “That was the mentality going in, but it was really important that we played as a team and everyone stepped up.
“The dynamic of the game was primarily dropping on the sets. We needed to have perimeter people shooting and confidence is a big one.”
Walklett capped a three-goal run to make it a 3-0 lead for the Rebels with 1:20 left in the first quarter.
The Aztecs got on the board on a goal from Emily Dodge before Desjarlais closed the opening quarter for a 4-1 lead.
Desjarlais scored twice in the second quarter to cancel out Aztec goals from Mabel Chui and Lopez-Ramirez.
Chui opened the scoring in the second quarter, but Desjarlais immediately responded for a 5-2 lead with 4:17 in the half.
Lopez-Ramirez cut it back to a two-goal advantage before Desjarlais added another Rebels goal for a 6-3 halftime advantage.
“Once we settled in and getting toward a groove, I think we’re able to play as a team,” Desjarlais said. “We just have to find our momentum and we just stick with it and I think that really helps us.”
Flintridge Prep opened the second-half scoring with a goal from junior Mona Patterson for a 7-3 lead at 3:04 in the third.
Kaplanyan scored her third goal with 1:41 left in the quarter to give the Rebels a five-goal cushion before Lopez-Ramirez scored to make it 8-4 at the end of the frame.
Desjarlais capped the scoring midway into the fourth quarter on an assist from Patterson.