Nobody said it was going to be easy.
Laguna Beach gave the undefeated Dos Pueblos girls water polo team all it could handle before senior Tiera Schroeder stepped up with the game on the line. The senior scored with 1:32 left in sudden-death overtime to give the Chargers a thrilling 14-13 win in the CIF Division 1 semifinals Wednesday night at the William Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.
DP won the sprint and immediately drew an ejection. The Chargers missed their shot, but stole the ball in transition. Kiley Neushul got it to Schroeder, who pump faked once before skipping a shot past Laguna Beach goalie Edy Manetta for the game-winner.
The win extends DP’s winning streak to 66 games and puts them in Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. championship against seventh-seeded Foothill, which upset third-seeded Corona del Mar in overtime.
The Chargers (30-0) are seeking their fourth straight CIF title and third in a row in Division 1.
Laguna Beach made the Chargers work hard to get back to the final. The Breakers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period.
Kiley Neushul scored on a counter followed by a goal from Jamie Neushul to finish the quarter 3-2.
The Breakers maintained the momentum and went into halftime with a 7-5.
“They earned three ejections in the first four minutes and that kind of put us back on our heels,” DP coach Chris Parrish said. “They took advantage of the first six on fives they got.”
But with a battle-tested roster of playoff veterans, DP didn’t come unglued.
“We didn’t get too rattled. We definitely were a little worried and nervous, but we didn’t get rattled. We came out (in the second half) with the same game plan we came in with.”
The Chargers forced the action, drew several Laguna ejections and capitalized on their power plays.
“We were five for seven on six on fives,” Parrish said. “We methodically knocked one goal off at a time until we got back up.”
But Laguna Beach wouldn’t go away. After Nicole Morelos scored from Kiley Neushul in transition to give DP its first lead, 11-10, near the end of regulation, the Breakers came back and tied the score and sent the game into overtime.
Jamie Neushul converted a penalty shot to give DP a 12-11 lead in the first OT but Laguna Beach’s Masson tied it to force a second overtime.
In that extra period, Yoshi Anderson of the Breakers scored first and DP’s Kodi Hill equalized to set up the sudden-victory ending.
Jamie Neushul led the Chargers with five goals, while Schroeder scored four and Kiley Neushul two.
Anderson and Jessie Holechek each scored four goals, and Manetta kept Laguna Beach in the game with 12 saves.
Parrish was impressed with Laguna Beach’s play, but he noted his team showed great composure in fighting off the Breakers.
“They had a lot of stuff go their way,” said Parrish. “They played really well, they played really smart and they pushed us to the brink.”
In Saturday’s final, DP will face a Foothill team that has knocked off No. 2 Los Alamitos and No. 3 Corona del Mar.
“Foothill has got to be the scariest team in CIF right now,” Parrish said. “They seem to be doing better and better as they go along.”
But does it have enough to stop players like Schroeder and Kiley Neushul, who are attempting to finish their high school careers as four-time CIF champions?
Unbelievable! Congrats DP girls.
These girls are an amazing TEAM and there are other seniors besides those mentioned who will complete their school careers with a hopeful four-time CIF championship. I commend ALL of them and in water polo, it takes the team to make the difference and that is evident with DP GIrls Chargers…go girls!!
I plan to watch Saturday night at Woollett in Irvine at 6:30 p.m. Foothill and DP are both great water polo schools! It should be a great game.
GO DP–2010-2011–YEAR OF THE CHARGERS!!!!