The Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions Girls Water Polo Tournament begins on Friday, with 16 teams competing for the title.
It’s the 14th year of the annual tournament, which has attracted the top seven teams in the Southern Section’s Division 1 as well as the top 8 teams in Division 2.
Games are being played at Santa Barbara High School and Dos Pueblos High School.
We will provide a recap after each game played at Santa Barbara High School. For a complete Tournament Schedule HERE
SATURDAY
CHAMPIONSHIP: Newport Harbor vs. Santa Barbara
Game over. Tournament host Santa Barbara wins the 14th annual TOC with a 7-5 victory after a scoreless fourth quarter. A detailed report with player and coaches’ quotes will be posted soon.
Now under the two-minute mark, Santa Barbara still leads 7-5. Both teams’ defenses have held here in the fourth quarter. There is a timeout with 1:15 remaining in the match. Santa Barbara is close to winning its first TOC title since 2004.
At the end of three quarters, Santa Barbara leads 7-5. The Dons managed to score five goals in a four-minute span after recording just two in the first 14 minutes.
Dons add to their lead after a steal and assist by Fesembeck leads to a goal in transition by Sophie Trabucco. Newport’s Rachel Whitelegge quickly responds to make the score 5-4. Another exchange of goals makes it 6-5 with 1:29 left in the third quarter.
Santa Barbara takes its first lead of the game in the third quarter at 4-3. Betsy Hendrix scored her second goal of the game to tie, followed by a shot from Rocio Fesembeck in a 6-on-5 situation that was deflected into the cage by a Newport defender. Four minutes remain in the third period.
Newport Harbor led 3-2 at halftime. The Sailors took a 2-0 lead before Santa Barbara scored two quick goals to tie 2-2 in the second period. Carly Christian then scored her third goal of the half to give Newport the advantage at half. Anna Brummett and Betsy Hendrix have scored for Santa Barbara.
3rd PLACE: Foothill vs. Santa Margarita
Foothill wins 9-5. The Knights took a 4-1 lead early in the second quarter before Santa Margarita was able to trim the lead to 2 at half.
5th PLACE: Corona del Mar vs. Laguna Beach
Corona del Mar’s Maddie Musselman defends MacKenzie Baldridge in the Sea Queens’ win over Laguna Beach
CDM wins 10-6. The Sea Queens outscored the Breakers 5-3 in each half. Four Corona del Mar players – Maddie Musselman, Ally McCormick, Cassidy Papa and Morgan Stewart – recorded two goals each. In the fourth quarter, a goal by Laguna Beach’s Brighid Burnes made the score 9-6 with just under five minutes remaining in the game. Musselman drew an ejection and scored on the following 6-on-5 to push CDM’s lead back to four goals with 2:13 remaining.
7th PLACE: Los Alamitos vs. El Toro
Los Alamitos’ Erika Pauley looks for an opening through the defense of El Toro’s Lauren Norheim
Los Alamitos controlled this match pretty much throughout, leading 7-1 at halftime at 10-2 after three quarters. UCLA commit Stephanie Mutafyan led all scorers with six goals, including four in the second quarter alone. Los Alamitos was the No. 5 team in Division 1 entering the tournament while El Toro is No. 2 in Division 2.
SEMIS: Newport Harbor vs. Santa Margarita
Newport Harbor comes out on top in this back-and-forth game. The Sailors are in the championship game after the 7-5 victory. The game was tied 5-5 in the fourth period until Newport’s Carly Christian converted a 5-meter penalty shot. With 2:02 on the clock, Christina O’Beck scored from the perimeter on a quick catch-and-shoot. Santa Margarita was unable to produce many good looks at the cage on offense after that as Newport turned up the defensive pressure. It’s the second-straight season that the Sailors have reached the Santa Barbara TOC championship game and third in the past four years. It’s the seventh time Newport has reached the TOC final in history. The Sailors have never won the title.
SEMIS: Santa Barbara vs. Foothill
The Dons earned a shot to win the tournament title for the first since 2004 with a clutch performance against the top-seeded Knights. Santa Barbara went on a 4-0 run in the third period to build a 7-4 lead and then held on in the final period behind clutch defensive plays by Kelsey O’Brien, Jessica Gaffney and goalie Madeline Trabucco. With an 8-6 lead, Trabucco blocked a point-blank shot by Hannah Lapkin and then stopped Lapkin again on a shot at the near post. On a scramble for the rebound, the Dons were called for submerging the ball, giving the ball back to Foothill. Cana Manzella scored to make it a one-goal game.
Foothill had a shot to tie the game, but Trabucco deflected it out. The Knights set up again and worked the ball inside to Nicole Stansfield. Santa Barbara’s Kelsey O’Brien made a huge defensive play, dropping back into the 2-meter area and stealing the ball from Stansfield. Lapkin got the ball back for Foothill with a steal at 2 meters. With the game clock winding down, the Knights worked the ball to Lapkin. Gaffney came over from the weak side, met Lapkin driving to the goal and stole the ball while losing her cap.
“I saw it happening,” Santa Barbara coach Mark Walsh said of the play. “I knew we were going to be in trouble. I yelled for (Jessica) to get back really early and she could have gone two-pass to get the ball and she chose the right side and the girl went right into her. That was huge.”
It was Santa Barbara’s first win over the Knights in three meetings. The Dons lost a one-goal game in the season opener and lost by four in the final of the Newport Holiday Cup.
“They’re a real physical team, so we wanted to match them and not let them dictate it to us. We wanted to be as aggressive back. I liked our fight.
“It’s a great win,” he added. “Anytime you can beat a team as good as Foothill it’s amazing. I’m really proud of the girls.”
Betsy Hendrix keyed the four-goal run in the third period with a pair of goals. She scored from long range, sneaking it just inside the right post and beat the goalie from a closer position off a pass from Anna Brummett. Rocio Fesembeck tied the score at 4-4 on a power-play early in the third period. The Dons took the lead for good when O’Brien received a long pass from Trabucco and ripped shot past the goalie. Santa Barbara last played in the final in 2011 and lost to Dos Pueblos.
FRIDAY
Santa Barbara vs. Murrieta Valley
The tournament host Dons started out with a 13-1 victory. After the Night Hawks’ Maddie Sanchez scored the first goal of the game, Santa Barbara scored 13 unanswered. Anna Brummett led the Dons in scoring with four goals. UCLA commit Kelsey O’Brien scored twice and recorded four steals. Jessica Gafney also recorded four steals and scored one goal. [VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS]
El Toro vs. Agoura
El Toro’s Lauren Norheim scores the game-winner against Agoura
El Toro erased a 4-0 halftime deficit to win 5-4. El Toro’s Lauren Norheim scored the game-winning goal with 32 seconds remaining in the match. Nine different players scored in a game with nine goals total. It was a matchup of ranked Division 2 teams. El Toro is the No. 2 team and Agoura is No. 6.
Mater Dei vs. Laguna Beach
Laguna Beach’s McKenzie Baldridge and Lexi del Toro each scored five goals to lead the Breakers to a 14-9 victory over Mater Dei, the No. 1 team in the Division 2. The Breakers, themselves ranked No. 6 in Division 1, led 12-6 going into the final period. Laguna Beach advances to face either Foothill or San Clemente in this evening’s quarterfinals.
Foothill vs. San Clemente
Nine different players scored for the Knights in their 17-3 rout of San Clemente. Brooke Maxson recorded a team-high four goals while Krista Schneider and Hannah Lapkin each scored three. The top-ranked team in Division 1 will face Laguna Beach in Friday night’s quarterfinals.
Agoura vs. Murrieta Valley
Murrieta used three goals each from Paige Virgil and Kayla Fedler to top Agoura 8-5.
Santa Barbara vs. El Toro
Kelsey O’Brien totaled four goals, four assists and six steals for Santa Barbara in the Dons’ 12-6 quarterfinal victory. A low-scoring first quarter gave way ?to more offense as the two teams combined for 15 goals in the final three periods. Anna Brummett collected three goals and five field blocks. For El Toro, Valarie Spezzaferri led the Chargers with three goals.
Foothill vs. Laguna Beach
Foothill has reached the TOC semifinals after a 13-6 triumph over Laguna Beach. Cana Manzella led all scorers with four goals.
