Before Clairemont could envision a return trip to the Southern California Division 2 girls water polo regional final, the top-seeded Chieftains had some unfinished business to take care of Thursday in the semifinals with No. 4 La Jolla.
Clairemont split a pair of regular-season showdowns against the Vikings, including a Feb. 5 setback in sudden-death overtime to their City-Western League rival.
But the Chieftains made sure that there would be no dramatic conclusion necessary at Cathedral Catholic High, relying on 18 saves from senior Ava Barclay and four third-quarter goals to secure an 8-2 victory and back-to-back appearances in the regional championship match.
Clairemont (19-12) will square off against second-seeded Valhalla (24-5) – a 13-10 winner Thursday against No. 3 Murrieta Valley (22-12) – at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Long Beach City College.
The Chieftains endured a 14-9 loss to San Clemente in last year’s Division 2 regional final at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.
Clairemont produced an 8-6 victory Dec. 20 against Valhalla in their only regular-season showdown, as both teams were knocked off in the CIF-San Diego Section Open Division semifinals.
Clairemont girls water polo team | Photo courtesy of Clairemont
La Jolla is the only San Diego Section program to win a Division 2 girls water polo regional title since the event was added to the schedule seven years ago, prevailing in the 2022 final.
It also marks the first time that a pair of San Diego Section schools will compete for the Division 2 regional crown, with the only previous instances occurring in Division 3 in 2019 and 2023.
Ava Gatewood scored three goals Thursday for Clairemont against La Jolla, with fellow senior Kylie Sagastume adding two goals, four assists and three steals for the Chieftains.
Audrey Harper contributed a goal and four steals, with fellow senior Sam Denny scoring twice and adding a pair of steals for Clairemont, which also received three assists and two steals from Cami Pryor and an assist from Honore Holland, who achieved the winning goal in last year’s 9-8 regional semifinal victory at top-seeded Alta Loma.
Clairemont produced an 8-6 victory Jan. 24 against La Jolla, before enduring a 5-4 sudden-death overtime setback in the rematch.
The Vikings kept the contest Thursday close in the opening half as well, with the teams trading goals in the first quarter, before Clairemont benefited from goals by Gatewood and Sagastume in the second to grab a 3-1 halftime advantage.
La Jolla cut the deficit to 3-2 early in the third quarter, before the Chieftains responded with a pair of scores by Gatewood and one each from Sagastume and Pryor to build a five-goal advantage entering the fourth.
Clairemont capped the scoring on a goal by Harper with four minutes remaining. before both teams substituted significantly down the stretch.
Cathedral Catholic 16, Palisades 5: The top-seeded Dons (27-4) scored six first-quarter goals and built an 11-1 halftime lead against the No. 5 Dolphins (11-11) to advance to their first Division 3 regional final.
Cathedral Catholic, the CIF-San Diego Section Division 2 champion, will compete at 11 a.m. Saturday against second-seeded Birmingham (20-9) – a 15-8 winner Thursday against No. 3 Santa Paula – at Long Beach City College.
Cathedral Catholic girls water polo team | Photo courtesy of Cathedral Catholic
The Dons previously reached the Division 2 regional championship match in 2020, suffering an 8-7 loss to San Clemente.
Birmingham lost to Mar Vista in the Division 3 regional final in 2020, with the Open Division champion Patriots looking to become the first L.A. City Section program to capture a regional girls water polo championship.
Corinna Frankel recorded seven saves for Palisades, including a block of a 5-meter penalty shot for the L.A. City Section Open Division runner-up Dolphins, who received two goals from Kylie Lupescu and one each from Lilli Fox, Bailey Gair and Yasmine Santini.