MARINERS ON THE ATTACK
Coming off a suddendeath overtime victory, Mar Vista senior Summer Chalmers and her teammates couldn’t wait to take control in the San Diego Section Division II girls water polo semifinals.
Chalmers converted the first shot and Iliana Lopez the next for two goals in the opening 30 seconds to put the topseeded Mariners ahead to stay for a 10-6 win over Classical at La Jolla High on Thursday night.
“It’s amazing to score the first goal, but it’s all about teamwork,” said Chalmers, who finished with two goals. “It’s working real well for us. We needed to keep our strong pace.”
Mar Vista advanced to the final at 1 p.m. Saturday at the same site for the first time since winning the 2016 championship.
Mar Vista 10, Classical 6 LCC 10, Granite Hills 9 (OT)
Ahead is La Costa Canyon, which topped Granite Hills 10-9 on sophomore Mia Macdonald’s second goal at 54 seconds into sudden-death overtime following two required periods of OT.
The Mariners edged Patrick Henry 8-7 in the quarterfinals on Kayla Quinones’ deciding OT goal.
“That was a really good kicker for us,” Chalmers said. “We got our mindset that we wanted to win this, to win so badly.”
Tatum Billings had three goals to lead Mar Vista (25-6), which took a 6-2 advantage with 2:06 before halftime with goals by six different players.
Sophomore Genevieve Larkin led No. 12 Classical (1612) with three goals.
No. 6 La Costa Canyon (1514), which won the D-III championship last season, returned to the finals by overcoming an opening four-goal deficit and 21 saves by goalie Nia Payne for the No. 2 Eagles (23-6-1).
“I almost cried (after scoring the game-winner),” Macdonald said. “We’ve worked hard all season. We just had the endurance, and we wanted it more than the other team.”
Sophomore Kylee Macdonald, Mia’s cousin, paced the Mavericks with four goals, including three straight for a 6-5 lead in the third quarter.
Annie Welch recorded her only goal to put the Mavericks ahead 9-8 with 2:43 left in the second OT period, but the Eagles pulled even again on Chase Dowling’s second goal with 1:07 to go.
Thien is a freelance writer.