Orange Lutheran and Mater Dei win Southern California Division 1 regional girls water polo semifinals, rivals set for fifth meeting this season in championship match

WESTLAKE VILLAGE – Oaks Christian was still riding the momentum from one of the most remarkable postseason runs in CIF-Southern Section girls water polo history, with the Open Division champion Lions advancing to the Southern California Division 1 regional semifinals.

But the one elite opponent the Lions didn’t encounter on their way to the first Open Division title in any sport in school history was Orange Lutheran, not only the reigning Division 1 regional champion, but a group that has never lost to top-seeded Oaks Christian.

Post-match interviews

The No. 4 Lancers secured their fourth victory this season against Oaks Christian, producing a 12-2 win Thursday against a short-handed Lions’ lineup that competed without leading scorer Mia Fabros and starting goalkeeper Alex Stoddard, to return to the Division 1 regional championship match for the third consecutive year.

Orange Lutheran (25-4) will compete at 2 p.m. Saturday against third-seeded Mater Dei (25-4) – a 10-8 semifinal winner Thursday against No. 2 Newport Harbor (25-7) – in the Division 1 regional final at Long Beach City College.

It will mark the fifth matchup this season for the Trinity League rivals, with Mater Dei winning three of the first four contests.

Orange Lutheran prevailed against the Monarchs four times last season, including an 8-4 victory in the regional final, to complete a 31-0 season.

The Lancers became the first girls water polo program to advance to the Division 1 regional championship match in three consecutive years.

Orange Lutheran also became the only school to reach the Division 1 regional final four times, including a victory in the 2019 championship against Laguna Beach.

Mater Dei captured the inaugural Division 1 regional crown in 2018 with a 9-2 win against Santa Ana Foothill, but the Monarchs are still searching for another title, especially after suffering a 12-11 overtime loss Feb. 18 against Oaks Christian in an Open Division pool-play contest.

Oaks Christian (23-8) followed that dramatic victory with a 7-5 triumph Feb. 22 against Newport Harbor in the Open Division final at Mt. San Antonio College and a 10-7 regional quarterfinal win Tuesday against No. 8 Carlsbad.

But Orange Lutheran produced the first four goals Thursday – with Allison Cohen, Liz Nicoloff, Jailynn Robinson and Kate Sloman all contributing – and held Oaks Christian scoreless for 10 minutes to open the match.

Nicole O’Neill helped the Lions end the offensive drought with four minutes left in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 4-1, but it was another goal by O’Neill that was disallowed less than 90 seconds later as a result of an error by the scorer’s table on a player returning to the pool following an exclusion that hurt Oaks Christian in its pursuit to pull any closer.

Sloman and Cohen both scored before the end of the first half for Orange Lutheran, which held the Lions scoreless for another stretch of nearly 12 minutes, before Aaliyah Kim achieved the only other goal for Oaks Christian early in the fourth quarter.

Caitlyn Fields, a senior, had three saves and two steals for the Lions, with Ivana Malenkovic and Maryam Maamoun adding assists.

Cohen finished with four goals, five assists and a pair of steals for the Lancers, with Eve Webb, Robinson and the USC-bound Sloman all scoring twice, in addition to UC Irvine commit Michelle Urkov and Nicoloff contributing goals for Orange Lutheran.

Robinson, a UCLA signee, also had three steals and two assists, with San Diego State-bound senior goalkeeper Kyla Pranajaya recording 11 saves for the Lancers, who earned their fifth straight victory against Oaks Christian during the past two seasons.

Mater Dei 10, Newport Harbor 8: The third-seeded Monarchs (25-4) knocked off the No. 2 Sailors (25-7) for the third time in four meetings this season, building an 8-4 halftime advantage in the Division 1 regional semifinal victory at Costa Mesa High.

Mater Dei girls water polo team | Erik Boal photo

Mater Dei will compete for the fifth time this year against rival Orange Lutheran (25-4), the No. 4 seed, in the Division 1 regional championship at 2 p.m. Saturday at Long Beach City College.

Sienna Sorensen, a USC commit, recorded nine saves for Mater Dei, which secured back-to-back trips to the Division 1 regional championship match and earned the third appearance in program history, including the inaugural title in 2018 by defeating Santa Ana Foothill by 9-2 margin.

Kirra Pantaleon, Maggie Ryan, Paige Segesman and Delaney Hook all scored twice for the Monarchs, who held a 10-6 lead entering the fourth quarter. Riley Johnson also added a goal for Mater Dei.

Emerson Mulvey, Madison Mack and June Hardesty all contributed a pair of goals for Newport Harbor, which was seeking its first appearance in the regional final since 2022.

Lydia Soderberg, a UC Santa Barbara-bound senior goalkeeper, recorded eight saves, but Newport Harbor couldn’t recover from an early 6-1 deficit.