02/14/08 GIRLS PLAYOFF WATER POLO ROUNDUP

DIVISION III

Whittier 14, Bonita 2
The Cardinals denied the Bearcats open looks at the cage for the most part. Bonita took 23 shots, but Cardinals goalkeeper Melanie Peel needed to make only nine saves. And most of those were like playing catch, with the scoring attempts pretty much directed right at her.

“I’m really happy with the way this group has progressed over the season,” Bonita coach John Ashby said “It’s unfortunate we had to run up against the division’s No. 2 team,” Bonita coach John Ashby said. “Whittier is a very good team, up and down, defensively and well-coached. They deserve to be No. 2, maybe No. 1.”
Whittier was ranked No. 1 in the CIF-SS weekly polls much of the season and was seeded No. 2 for the playoffs.
Whittier improved to 16-7 while Bonita finished the season with an 18-13 mark.
Whittier attempted 29 shots, with Bearcats goalkeeper Maghan Pezzolla stopping 10.
Amber Pezzolla and Candace McIntire accounted for the Bearcats’ scoring.

Upland 10, La Serna 7
Since the Upland sophomore goalie’s promotion to the varsity water polo team this season, Joanna Marantiais has grown tremendously.
Whether it was literally or figuratively, she may have grown the most during back-to-back saves in the fourth quarter of Upland’s 10-7 win over Whittier La Serna on Thursday in the first round of the CIF-SS Division III playoffs.
Protecting a 9-7 lead with less than three minutes remaining, a fully-extended Marantiais knocked down a close-range shot to end a 6-on-5 threat. The rebound resulted in a La Serna penalty shot she deflected into the underside of the crossbar.
“That was what sealed their fate,” Upland coach Cody Bell said. “Two in a row like that was very impressive.”
Leanne Ford scored six goals for the Highlanders (21-9), who will face Ayala in the quarterfinals on Saturday, including Upland’s final three goals in a high-scoring fourth quarter. Marantiais finished with 12 saves.

La Cañada 10, St. Lucy’s 9, 2OT
The Spartans’ refusal to lose helped them pull out a 10-9, double-overtime victory against St. Lucy’s in the opening round of the CIF-Southern Section Division III playoffs Thursday at Pasadena City College.
The Spartans overcame a 7-4 deficit with four fourth-quarter goals, including the game-tying goal by Riley Kessler with 9.8 seconds to play in regulation time.
Jacki Snyder broke the tie in overtime when with a shot that barely got past Regents goalie Ashley Lancaster.
St. Lucy’s outshot the Spartans 24-13.
<NO1>Behind the play of Coulter and fellow sophomore Bianca Adams, St. Lucy’s was in position for the upset.
Coulter scored four goals and Adams had three.
Adams fought off a La Cañada defender to put a shot past Cato, which gave the Regents a 7-4 lead with 5:48 to play in the fourth quarter.
A pair of quick goals by Kaesler pulled the Spartans closer.
Spartans driver Samantha Magnuson’s score with the Regents short-handed tied the match at 7 with 2:34 to go.
Adams gave St. Lucy’s the lead when she tipped a pass from Sara Fulham into the net past Cato to set up Kessler’s heroics.
“(La Cañada) played a really great game and got very aggressive on the perimeter and got a couple of goals,” St. Lucy’s coach David Miller said. “We were able to counter back to take the lead, but they put one in there at the end.
“We gave it our best and the girls played really hard today.”

Ayala 19, Riverside King 2
Dani Curran scored eight goals while Alex Ford and Heidi Pettinger added four each as the Bulldogs (23-4) defeated the visiting Wolves and advance to the second round.
Goalie Kaitlyn Dement had eight saves for Ayala.

DIVISION VI

Saddleback 9, Arroyo Valley 7
San Andreas League champion Arroyo Valley played well against the top-seeded team, but fell.
An early injury to standout Erica Fry hindered the Hawk effort. Taylor Vermillion, Lena Leonardi and Alaina Jara all had two goals for the Hawks (17-11) and Ria Johnson had one goal and two assists. Fry managed two assists.
Crystal Villegas had five goals for Saddleback (24-4).