The Metro Conference recorded its first girls water polo championship sweep in history when Hilltop and Mar Vista high schools emerged victorious in last Saturday’s San Diego Section finals at La Jolla High School. Top-seeded Hilltop held on to defeat second-seeded Serra, 7-6, in the Division III championship game while top-seeded Mar Vista recorded an 8-6 come-from-behind win over second-seeded Scripps Ranch in the Division II title game.
“Unbelievable” was the word used by Hilltop coach Ernie Medina to describe his team’s finish. The top-seeded Lady Lancers roared to an imposing 5-0 lead and led 7-2 at halftime. However, Hilltop did not score in the second half and had to play defense the final 4:55 of the game when two of its top players fouled out to secure the school’s second section water polo championship — the first won by the boys team in 1980.
The CIF title was the first in any team sport in the history of Mar Vista High School, which opened in 1951. Previously, the Imperial Beach school’s boys water polo team finished second in the Division II finals in 2014.
The top-seeded Lady Mariners led early, 1-0, before falling behind 5-1. The game was tied 6-6 for much of the second half before the Mar Vista managed to get its fast-break offense going in the fourth quarter.
“It’s awesome – the first one ever for the school,” a jubilant MVHS head coach Chad Kavanagh pronounced after the game. “Hopefully, there will be more to come.”
Double feature
Priscilla Rude scored 45 seconds into the game to give Hilltop (24-5) a quick 1-0 lead and Mildred Monsivais and Sophia Espinoza followed with goals to stake the Lady Lancers to a 3-0 first quarter edge. Hilltop had a chance for two more goals but was unable to convert on six-on-five opportunities.
When Rude and Monsivais each scored their second goals of the game early in the second quarter, Hilltop led 5-0.
Second-seeded Serra (11-6) rallied with a pair of goals by Savana Vander Schuit and Tristan Langley but the Lady Lancers closed out the first half strong with goals by Espinoza and Monsivais. Hilltop missed on two more six-on-five opportunities in the quarter to prevent what could have been a total blowout in the making.
The second half was almost a reverse of the first half, with the Lady Lancers’ offense muted due to foul trouble and the Lady Conquistadors playing on what seemed like an endless power play.
Serra received eight six-on-five opportunities in the second half, and converted on three of them to get back into the game.
Espinoza twice had opportunities to give Hilltop a potentially backbreaking eighth goal but misfired on two five-meter penalty shots. Both freebies went right to the Serra goalie’s midsection.
When Langley scored with 5:42 to play in the fourth quarter, the Lady Lancers’ lead was reduced to 7-5. Gabrielle Meza’s power play goal with 2:20 to play made it a one-goal game at 7-6.
Serra went up on another power play but Hilltop goalie Dani Diaz made a clutch save with 42 seconds to play. The Lady Conquistadors kept the pressure on and, when a shot buzzed over the crossbar with 14 seconds left, the Lady Lancers were able to successfully run out the play clock on the restart.
“It was hard,” Espinoza said immediately after the game with an obvious sigh of relief.
For Medina, it was the culmination of a journey that had stretched 36 years — from 1980 under then Hilltop coach Greg Ormsby to his own CIF water polo championship as a head coach in 2016. He posed with Ormsby and the championship trophy during the awards presentation.
“The girls worked super hard; they deserve this,” Medina explained. “Over the season, the team bonded. We learned a lot of lessons along the way. Our girls brought home the first banner in the South Bay.”
Hilltop athletic director Nancy Acerrio was in attendance and participated in the postgame awards presentation. “How exciting,” she said. “It was a nail-biter all the way to the end. I think we had a great season. I think Ernie put the girls into the right frame of mind to win.”
Medina had to hope all the training he had instilled in his team held up during the frantic final moments.
“I lost two of my top scorers; we had to play defense,” he said. “It was touch and go at the end. But the way I look at it, the more challenging, the better.”
About two hour later, Mar Vista secured the second CIF girls water polo championship banner for the Metro Conference.
The game stood in stark contrast to the Division III final in that the Lady Mariners started slow but finished strong.
Isabelle Hastings scored the opening goal but MV quickly fell behind 4-1 by the end of the first quarter and 5-1 when the Lady Falcons (21-9) netted the opening goal of the second quarter.
From there, Mar Vista (26-6) outscored Scripps Ranch 7-1 over the balance of the contest.
The Lady Mariners reeled off four unanswered goals to tie the game 5-5 with 2:52 remaining in the first half. The Lady Falcons made the score 6-5 on a six-on-five goal with 1:24 left in the half.
But when Stephanie Morales hit the crossbar in the dying seconds, one had the distinct impression that the reigning Mesa League champions weren’t finished.
And they weren’t.
Danielle Pena placed a perfect lob shot to the top corner to tie the game, 6-6, midway through the third quarter. The teams exchanged hit posts and power play opportunities before Hastings finally broke the deadlock with 5:18 to play in the fourth quarter.
She had another chance to widen the margin when she took three successive point-blank shots: one hit the post, the second hit the crossbar and the third sailed just wide.
Hastings hit the post on a five-meter penalty shot with 2:28 remaining to deny the Lady Mariners that elusive eighth goal and keep the Lady Falcons within striking distance.
But Mar Vista finally did get that much-needed breathing room when Hastings scored on a lob to the far corner with 1:58 left. A tip save by Lady Mariner goalie Sarah Carr with 1:02 to play secured the history-making win.
Carr finished the game with 10 saves while Hastings, who received the team’s sportsmanship award, led Mar Vista with three goals. Morales and Pena each scored twice in the game while Shyla Toledo scored one goal.
Hastings and Morales each led the team with five steals.
The Lady Mariners were determined not to lose.
“We wanted this,” Hastings said. “We did what we wanted to do. I’m proud of the team.”
“The girls were amazing,” Kavanagh added. “You don’t know what you’re going to get in a championship game. We finished second with the boys team. With the girls team, all the hard work paid off.
“We have been a second-half team. We swim a lot in training. We have built our team to finish strong. We had a lot of opportunities to finish the game.”
Hannah Erbe-Smith led Scripps Ranch with three goals while Stephanie Soto scored twice and Melia Hodson had one goal. Samantha Runyon made 12 saves in the championship game loss.
