Foiled again.
For the second straight year, Newport Harbor denied Santa Barbara High from reaching the CIF Division 1 girls water polo final.
The Sailors scored the go-ahead goal 40 seconds left and standout goalie Carlee Kapana stopped a last-second shot by the Dons to clinch a 11-10 victory on Wednesday at the William Woolett Aquatics Center in Irvine.
For Santa Barbara, it was the second this season it suffered a last-second defeat against Newport Harbor. The Dons fell 10-9 in a quarterfinal game of the Tournament of Champions in January. The Sailors beat the Dons 8-5 in last year’s Division 1 semifinals.
“You can get a great look, and she just can stuff you,” Dons Coach Mark Walsh said of Kapana’s clutch save. “Both of their goalies are amazing. We had our counter going, we had some good opportunities, and she definitely made some great saves.
“But my team is really, really tough. They’ve really impressed me and really bought into playing for each other and putting their heart and soul into it.”
Newport Harbor will face top-seeded Laguna Beach for the championship on Saturday. Laguna Beach beat Los Alamitos, 12-5, in the other semifinal.
It wasn’t looking good midway in the fourth period as Newport scored two goals to take a 9-7 lead. But just like they did in the quarterfinals against third-seeded Corona del Mar, the Dons battled back. Jessie Brummett scored and Kristina Garcia beat Kapana on a power play to tie the game at 9-9.
Newport’s Chanel Schilling drew a penalty shot and Kate Pipkin converted for a 10-9 lead with a 1:45 left. But Santa Barbara got it back when Erin McGeoy drew a penalty. Betsy Hendrix stepped up and scored to make it a 10-10 game with a minute left in regulation.
Pipkin, who scored the game winner in the ToC game, did it to the Dons again, this time on a lob shot. She led the Sailors with four goals
Garcia scored four goals to lead the Dons. Anna Brummett and Jessie Brummett each had two gaols and Hendrix and Jessee Ransone tallied one apiece. Goalie Sienna Goggia made seven saves.
Santa Barbara finishes the season at 20-10.
