Tournament MVP Diana Murphy and the Corona del Mar Sea Queens battled back from a 4-0 deficit against Newport Harbor to win 10-8 and claim the Tournament of Champions title at Santa Barbara High on Saturday night.
Murphy had three goals and scored the game-tying goal at the buzzer in the third quarter, and Cassidy Papa followed shortly thereafter with the go-ahead score.
“They didn’t necessarily change their game. I think they were just able to up the intensity and the enthusiasm a bit and it paid off,” said Sea Queens coach Sam Bailey of the comeback.
The grueling tournament wore the teams down as always, but Bailey pointed to his team’s depth as a key advantage in keeping the foot on the accelerator.
“I think it’s our deep bench. We really have a lot of confidence that our bench can play some solid minutes for us,” he said.
The third-place game also featured a comeback, as Los Alamitos roared back to beat Foothill 11-10 despite trailing 8-3 in the second quarter. Marley Delaney netted the game-winner with 1:46 to go in the fourth, giving Los Alamitos its first and only lead.
Charlotte Hendrix takes a point-blank shot to score for the Dons.
Santa Barbara High bounced back from a tough overtime loss on Friday night to beat crosstown rival Dos Pueblos 10-8 in the morning game thanks to five goals from Sophie Trabucco. Her sister, Maddie, had 13 saves in the fifth-place game, an 11-7 win over Laguna Beach.
“It was a super tough loss last night, but it’s what you do with a loss that shows your true character,” said Maddie Trabucco. “We wanted to come out super hard and show teams what we can do.”
Dos Pueblos took seventh thanks to a 5-goal effort from Jamie Neushul in a 12-10 win over Santiago on Saturday afternoon. Neushul was the Chargers’ top-scorer against the Dons as well, with four goals in the defeat.
“We’re so familiar with that team, so we kind of knew what to expect,” said Trabucco of the Dos Pueblos game. “…I think we know what we’re capable of.”
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP – Diana Murphy Corona Del Mar
Pippa Saunders, Corona Del Mar
Elisa Schilling, Newport
Maddie McLaren, Newport
Rachel Fattal, Los Alamitos
Stephanie Mutafyan, Los Alamitos
Cana Manzella, Foothill
Charlotte Hendrix, Santa Barbara
Makenzie Fischer, Laguna Beach
Kodi Hill, Dos Pueblos
