Southern Section

SOUTERN SECTION FINALS SCHEDULE
At Belmont Plaza Pool

Monday, March 1

DIVISION II

Corona del Mar (21-9) vs. Peninsula (25-4), 8:15 p.m.

DIVISION III

Temple City (24-6) vs. El Rancho (28-3), 4:30 p.m.

DIVISION IV

Santa Barbara (28-2) vs. Royal (22-7), 6 p.m.

Tuesday, March 2

DIVISION I

Newport Harbor (26-3) vs. Foothill (27-3), 8:15 p.m.

DIVISION V

Upland (28-3) vs. Redlands (27-2), 6 p.m.

DIVISION VI

Rowland (24-1) vs. Garden Grove (25-4), 4:30 p.m.

SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS

Wednesday, Feb. 25

Semifinals

DIVISION I

Foothill 6, Santa Margarita 5
Grace Reynolds scored three goals to lift second-seeded Foothill, which led, 5-2, at halftime. Darby Anderson scored three goals for fifth-seeded Santa Margarita (19-11) at Saddleback College. Foothill, ranked No. 3 by The Times, scored on all three of its 6-on-5 situations, while No. 9-ranked Santa Margarita scored on three of eight man-up situations.

Newport Harbor 10, Long Beach Wilson 6
Two-meter standout Carolyn Conway had three goals and three steals for top-seeded Newport Harbor (26-3), which advanced to its first Southern Section Division I championship match since the Sailors won the title in the 1998-99 season with the victory over visiting Long Beach Wilson.

Anne Belden and Sarah Mutt each had two goals for the Sailors, and while Jessica Ball had one goal and three assists, Katie Erickson had one goal and two assists. Belding had two assists and Ashling Taylor scored Newport Harbor’s other goal.

Kim Housepian and Terin Cottam shared goaltending duties for Newport Harbor. Housepian recorded six saves in the first half and Cottam had three in the second half. The Sailors led, 3-0, after the first quarter, and were up, 6-1, at halftime.

The teams played a physical game and paid the price, with Newport Harbor going two for three in man-advantage situations while Wilson was two for nine.

Wilson also had a brutality foul called midway through the third quarter on two-meter defender Amy Lamb, who fouled Conway hard in the face and was ejected for good, and because of the brutality-foul ruling, the Bruins were forced to compete while a player short for the rest of the game.

Conway suffered a bloody nose that sidelined her for the rest of the third period and most of the fourth before she returned to the game with a minute to play.

Wilson had four goals, including three by leading scorer Casie Mota, in the third quarter, in which Newport Harbor players also were hit with five 20-second ejections.

Lauren Silver added two goals for the Bruins, and Allison Perez had the other won. Wilson goalie Niki Lolis made four saves.
--Lauren Peterson

DIVISION II

Corona del Mar 13, Anaheim Canyon 6
Katya Eadington had five goals, two assists and two steals and Camille Hewko and Katlin Kubas each added three goals for Corona del Mar (21-9), which recorded its sixth consecutive victory in the Southern Section Division II semfinal game at Corona del Mar.

Junior two-meter player Jordan Anae finished with two goals and junior goalie Brittany Fullen made 14 saves for the top-seeded and defending-champion Sea Kings, who were three for four in man-up situations. The Comanches (20-11) went three for four with the man-advantage.

Corona del Mar two-meter guard Vivian Liao did not allow Anaheim Canyon standout Courtney Mathewson to record a natural goal. In seven shot attempts, Mathewson scored twice, both on four-meter penalty shots for the Comanches, who also fell to Corona del Mar in last season’s Division II semifinals.
--Lauren Peterson

Peninsula 4, Laguna Beach 2
Junior hole set Kim Nelson had three goals and Nicole Santarosa had the other goal for second-seeded Peninsula (24-4), which advanced to its first championship game with the Southern Section Division II semifinal victory at Mira Costa High.

Senior goalie Natalie Kim made eight saves for the Panthers, who have won 15 consecutive games since a 9-3 loss to Laguna Beach in the Newport Harbor/Corona del Mar tournament on Dec. 27. Peninsula was scoreless in three six-on-five opportunities, but also held the Breakers scoreless in eight man-advantage chances.

Jessica McKee and Allison Allis scored for unseeded Laguna Beach.

DIVISION III

El Rancho 11, Ayala 9
Brandy Bray and Berlyn Sanchez each scored four goals for third-seeded El Rancho (28-3). Kari Weston had three goals for second-seeded Ayala (23-8), which was two of four in 6-on-5 situations. Sanchez scored three straight goals in 2:13 in the fourth quarter to give El Rancho a 9-8 lead and Sharayah Hernandez scored the game-winning goal on a skip shot with 58 seconds left for El Rancho, which scored on four of its seven 6-on-5 situations.

Temple City 9, Whitter 8
Linda Calvert scored two, including the game-winner in sudden death overtime, Megan Walsh and Jessica Coy each added three goals for visiting Temple City (24-6), which plays El Rancho Monday. At the end of the first overtime period, Temple City coach Brian Roth received a celebratory push into the pool before the game ended and Whittier was awarded a four-meter penalty shot, which Charis Cinceroz made to tie the game and send it into sudden death. The goal was her fourth goal of the game.

DIVISION IV

Royal 10, Lompoc Cabrillo 5
Sharleanna Richardson had three goals and three steals and goalie Brandy Creek registered 14 saves to lead Royal (22-7). Katie Harding, Melissa Dicato, and Christina Cruz added two goals each for Royal.

Santa Barbara 12, Agoura 9
Nicole Louie scored three goals and Bridgette Bugay added two to lead top-ranked, top-seeded Santa Barbara (28-2) to its second consecutive trip to the division finals. Santa Barbara went five for seven in 6-on-5 situations. Meghan Corso scored five goals for host Agoura (20-9).

DIVISION V

Redlands 6, Riverside Poly 5
Miranda Quinones scored the decisive goal with 3 minutes, 30 secponds left as third-seeded Redlands (27-2) rallied from a 5-4 deficit going into the fourth quarter and upended No. 2-seeded Riverside Poly (21-8) in the Southern Section Division V semifinal game at the University of Redlands.

Quinones and Susan Dyer each finished with two goals apiece while senior goalie Kendra Adama recorded 15 saves and six steals for the Terriers, who will make their first appearance in the Division V final since winning the title with an 8-7 victory over Riverside North in 2000.

Monique Blanchard scored two goals in a four-goal third quarter for Riverside Poly, which rallied from from a 2-1 halftime deficit with the spurt. Alison Riddle also had two goals for the Bears, last season’s division runner-up.

Upland 9, Arlington 3
Jenna Schuster had three goals, Vanessa Lindsey had two goals and three assists and her twin sister Brianna Lindsey had two goals for top-seeded defending champion Upland (28-3), which advanced to its second consecutive Southern Section Division V final match and was competing in a semifinal for the third year in a row.The Highlanders, who have won five consecutive games, also got a goal and four assists from Ashley Rothweiler, and goalie Allison Lucas made nine saves. Upland converted in one of four six-on-five situations while Arlington was scoreless in seven opportunitites.

Fourth-seeded Arlington (24-7) was led by senior Nikki Frish, who scored twice, including once on a four-meter penalty shot for the Lions’ last goal. Frish and teammate Cydney Owen each scored once in the first half, but Upland led, 5-2, at halftime.

DIVISION VI

Garden Grove 7, Downey 5
Jeanette De Meneces scored five goals, including four in the third quarter, as third-seeded Garden Grove ralled from a 4-1 deficit in the period and won the Southern Section Division III semifinal game at Downey.

The Argonauts (25-4), who will be making their first appearance in a division final game after also advancing to semifinals last year, outscored Downey, 4-2, in the third period, which ended in a 5-5 tie.

De Meneces scored her last goal with 4:03 left and teammate Ashley Warren scored with 1:17 remaining to seal the victory. Both teams went 0-for-2 in man-up situations.

Garden Grove and Downey had split two earlier matches. The Argonauts’ victory made up for an 8-7 loss to the Vikings in a nonleague regular-season finale.

Tracey Aparicio scored three times and Sofia Patronas scored the other two goals for second-seeded Downey (25-6).

Rowland 11, Jurupa Valley 9