Knights top Sea Kings

Bryce Alderton

The Corona del Mar High boys water polo team found itself locked in a

virtual tug-of-war with Foothill in a CIF Southern Section Division I

semifinal Friday night at Irvine High.

Unfortunately for the second-seeded Sea Kings, the Knights pulled

a little harder in the end and found the key to victory -- defense --

to earn a 12-9 victory in front of an estimated 1,300 spectators.

Third-seeded Foothill (22-8) held the Sea Kings (20-9) scoreless

for the final 10 minutes, 52 seconds of the contest after senior

Thomas Pearson scored his game-high fifth goal on an assist from Kyle

Hersh to even the match at 9.

The score remained that way until junior J.W. Krumpholz scored the

eventual game-winning goal with 5:34 remaining in the fourth quarter,

which gave the Knights a 10-9 cushion.

The Knights led, 11-9, with 3:31 left in the game when the

scoreboard malfunctioned. A 25-minute delay ensued while crews

attempted to reestablish power.

They were temporarily unsuccessful, so the final 3:31 was played

without a working game clock on the scoreboard.

The Sea Kings, winners of 12 of 13 entering the game, similarly

failed to regain the spark they had through the first three quarters

of the contest.

CdM never led, but evened the Knights seven times.

Jacob Murphy tallied two goals while Spencer Pirdy and Kyle Hersh

each scored once. Senior Bryan Buhagiar tallied all four of his

assists in the first half.

The Sea Kings’ hopes of advancing to the Division I final for the

second time in three years, however, dashed quickly after the delay.

CdM failed to capitalize on a 6-on-5 advantage, and a Sea King who

had earned three ejections attempted to re-enter the game, which

resulted in an automatic penalty shot for Foothill with 54 seconds

remaining.

Krumpholz, a United States youth national team member, completed

his hat trick -- on his second attempt from four meters after a CdM

player took the ball out of Krumpholz’s hand on his first try.

CdM Coach Sam Bailey said the exclusions and Krumpholz’s third

goal hurt, but acknowledged the damage had already been done.

“The offense is always going to come, but defense wins games,”

Bailey said. “There is no way you can give up 12 goals and expect to

win.”

Foothill began to drop their defenders, especially in the fourth

quarter, which forced the Sea Kings into taking several long-range

shots at difficult angles.

“When [the Knights] dropped, I couldn’t look at the cage,” said

Pearson, who finished with three steals. “We weren’t aggressive

enough in the fourth quarter. But you’ve go to hand it to [Foothill

goalkeeper Travis Stachowski].” Stachowski made six saves.

CdM senior Gaston Sanford continued his strong play in goal with

eight saves, including two diving stops to his right.

“We played awesome tonight,” Pearson said. “We played our hearts

out.”

*--*

CIF Division I Semifinal

Foothill 12, Corona del Mar 9

Score by Quarters

Foothill 4 2 3 3 -- 12

CdM 3 3 3 0 -- 9

Foothill -- Cummins 4, Krumpholz 3, Hohener 2,

Benjamin 1, Dudic 1, Oland 1. Saves -- Stachowski

6. CdM -- Pearson 5, Murphy 2, Hersh 1, Pirdy 1.

Saves -- Sanford 8.

*--*