SANTA BARBARA – The lineups might have been slightly different, but the outcome was the same for the Mater Dei High girls water polo team Saturday against Orange Lutheran in the championship match of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.
For the second time in an eight-day span, the Monarchs knocked off Orange Lutheran, relying on five goals from tournament MVP Kirra Pantaleon – including four in the third quarter – to produce a 10-7 victory at Santa Barbara High.
It marked the first time in program history Mater Dei (11-1) secured the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions crown after suffering an 11-9 setback to eventual winner Orange Lutheran in last year’s semifinals.
The Monarchs also achieved a 10-9 triumph against the Lancers (12-2) in the Jan. 4 final of the Bill Barnett Holiday Cup at Corona del Mar High, snapping Orange Lutheran’s 38-match winning streak.
The Monarchs competed in the final without sophomore Maggie Ryan and Orange Lutheran was missing junior Allison Cohen and senior Jailynn Robinson, all of whom departed following Saturday’s semifinals to travel to Greece to join the rest of the United States national team roster to participate Jan. 14-19 in the Women’s Water Polo World Cup Division 1 Tournament, a qualifier for the World Cup Super Final in April.
Mater Dei built a 3-0 advantage in the first six minutes in the championship match behind goals from Riley Johnson and Santa Ana Foothill transfers EJ Hourigan and Pantaleon.
Orange Lutheran, which had defeated the Monarchs eight consecutive times during the past three seasons before enduring the setback in the Bill Barnett Holiday Cup championship, rallied with three unanswered goals – two from all-tournament honoree Michelle Urkov – to tie the score at 3-3 with 4:38 left in the first half.
The teams traded goals during the rest of the second quarter to enter halftime tied at 5-5.
Pantaleon took over at both ends of the pool in the third quarter, adding three steals to her four goals, with only a score from Taytum Banda helping the Lancers remain within striking distance at 9-6 entering the fourth.
Kirra Pantaleon | Photo courtesy of Mater Dei girls water polo
Penny Mauser gave the Monarchs their biggest advantage at 10-6 with 4:24 remaining, before all-tournament selection Estelle Karaba produced the final Orange Lutheran goal with 3:10 left.
Sienna Sorensen, an all-tournament pick for Mater Dei, limited the Lancers to second half-goals and recorded seven saves.
Kyla Pranajaya had seven saves for Orange Lutheran, which received two goals from Kamryn Anderson, along with another score from Kate Sloman.
Delaney Hook and Paige Segesman contributed goals for Mater Dei, which has won 10 in a row, including a 12-7 semifinal victory Saturday against San Marcos.
Ryan led the Monarchs with six goals, Hook added three goals and Bella Jurgensen, Pantaleon and Mauser all scored for Mater Dei, which received seven saves from Sorensen.
Sienna Sorensen | Photo courtesy of Mater Dei girls water polo
Orange Lutheran advanced to the final following an 11-7 triumph against Newport Harbor, with Cohen, Karaba and Robinson all scoring twice for the Lancers.
Liz Nicoloff, Addison Wedding, Eve Webb, Sloman and Urkov all had goals, with Pranajaya contributing six saves for Orange Lutheran.
Newport Harbor 11, San Marcos 2: The Sailors (15-3) produced the last eight goals and held San Marcos (8-5) scoreless for the final 17:30 in the third-place match at Santa Barbara High.
Newport Harbor girls water polo | Photo courtesy of Christina O’Beck
Bethany King, an all-tournament pick, cut the deficit to 3-2 midway through the second quarter for the Royals, who competed without Lucy Haaland-Ford and Charlotte Raisin, also members of the U.S. national team roster traveling to Greece.
Campbell Pence and Caitlin Stayt both scored twice for Newport Harbor, which also received goals from Caroline Daniel, Sutton Harrington, Addison Ting, Valery Verdugo, Sophia Verdugo, Gabby Alexson and Shay Nussbaum.
Lydia Soderberg had eight saves for the Sailors, who never trailed.
Lily Bordofsky produced a first-quarter goal for San Marcos.
Naomi Enright and Haaland-Ford both had a pair of goals for the Royals in the semifinal loss to Mater Dei, their second in a row against the Monarchs since a 10-8 victory Dec. 7 at Santa Barbara High.
Shea Estabrook, Jade Pattinson and Sophie Yonker also scored for San Marcos.
Valery Verdugo led Newport Harbor with two goals against Orange Lutheran, with Harper Price, Madison Mack, Daniel, Harrington and Alexson also scoring for the Sailors.
Alexson and fellow sophomore Emerson Mulvey were all-tournament honorees for Newport Harbor.
Oaks Christian 12, Long Beach Wilson 9: The Lions (11-3) rallied from a 7-4 third-quarter deficit and produced six goals in the final quarter to capture fifth place at Santa Barbara High.
Katherine O’Dea, an all-tournament pick, helped the Bruins (12-7) take a 9-8 lead with 3:53 left.
Nicole O’Neill scored twice, with Aaliyah Kim and Mia Fabros both contributing goals, as Oaks Christian shut down Long Beach Wilson the rest of the way.
Fabros, who received all-tournament recognition, had five goals, including all three of the Lions’ first-half scores. Makena Bygrave and Kim both scored twice, with Ivana Malenkovic also contributing to the Oaks Christian comeback effort.
O’Dea produced three goals, with Cici DeLuca adding a pair of goals for the Bruins.
Kim had three goals, with Siena Doble, Fabros and O’Neill all scoring twice for Oaks Christian in an 11-7 victory against The Bishop’s School from La Jolla in the fifth-place semifinals.
The Bruins held off Santa Ana Foothill by an 11-10 margin in their fifth-place semifinal showdown, with O’Dea scoring three goals, in addition to Iris Hiskey and Angeliki Arroyo both scoring twice.
Long Beach Wilson had previously outlasted Foothill with a 13-12 victory Jan. 4 in sudden-death overtime in the fifth-place semifinals at the Bill Barnett Holiday Cup.
The Bishop’s School 12, Santa Ana Foothill 11 (OT): The golden goal was scored by Fiona Salatka inside the left post 26 seconds into sudden-death overtime to lift The Bishop’s School (9-4) to seventh place at Santa Barbara High.
Salatka also scored twice in the fourth quarter and Lotte Lightner added a goal to help The Bishop’s School overcome a 10-8 deficit.
Salatka gave The Bishop’s School an 11-10 advantage with 21 seconds left after neither team had scored for a stretch of more than four minutes.
But Ashley Kwan produced the tying goal with 11 seconds remaining in regulation for Foothill (8-5), which lost the opening sprint and never had possession during the overtime period.
Farren Moss scored four goals and all-tournament selection Aileen Shin added three goals for The Bishop’s School, which also received a goal from Gigi Paradez and five saves from Maddy Lane.
Chloe Patist had four goals, Natalia Barrot contributed three goals, Kwan scored twice, with Ava Rowe and Gianna Romero also adding goals for Foothill.
Chen had three goals, Moss scored twice, with Sydney Hagan and Rylann Hakim producing goals in the fifth-place semifinal setback against Oaks Christian for The Bishop’s School, which also received seven saves from Lane.
Elise Poissonnier and Patist both had a pair of goals for Foothill in the fifth-place semifinal loss against Long Beach Wilson.