No changing of guard here

COSTA MESA — Sometimes, in water polo, a killer instinct helps more than any skill or play diagramed in a timeout.

Estancia High has never beaten cross-town rival Costa Mesa in varsity girls’ water polo. The Mustangs, in a slugfest, seemed to have that fact boost them that much more on Wednesday at Estancia.

Talhia Nuñez scored a power-play goal with just over two minutes left in the game, lifting Costa Mesa to a 12-11 win as both teams began the second half of Orange Coast League play.

The goal was Nuñez’s seventh of the game, which featured eight ties. Neither team had more than a two-goal lead, which was quite a change from the Mustangs’ 9-2 win at home on Dec. 20.

“We didn’t want to overlook them,” said Nuñez, a junior. “We just tried to forget that we beat them last time, and keep on working and just try our best. It was our ticket into CIF and we really wanted it.”

Costa Mesa (11-10, 3-1 in league) did stay in the driver’s seat for a CIF Southern Section Division II playoff spot. But first, the Mustangs had to withstand one last push from Estancia (12-8, 0-4). The Eagles got the ball back with 18 seconds left after goalie Emily Kaplan’s 10th save of the game.

After a timeout, the Mustangs stole the ball, only to have Estancia’s Meagan Kunert steal it back.

But the Eagles failed to get a shot off, and Mustangs two-meter defender Shyra Crandall stole the ball on an entry pass with one second left.

“They looked like they got a little lost, and I felt like they got their backs climbed on a little bit,” Estancia Coach Bob Bandaruk said of his Eagles. “It was enough of a distraction where I thought we should have had a free pass or an ejection, and we didn’t … But we had the opportunity to win this game, and we didn’t finish. We just didn’t get it done today.”

Costa Mesa senior Abbie Dyvig, who had two goals and two steals, said the Mustangs may have come in overconfident after two blowout losses to Laguna Beach and Downey last week.

“It was kind of like, ‘Here’s an easy team that we can get our self-esteem up on,’” Dyvig said. “But, that wasn’t the case. We had to grind that one out and it shouldn’t have been like that. We’ve beat them by a lot of goals each year.”

But Estancia kept the margin tight this time around, as momentum swung all game long. The Mustangs opened a 3-1 lead on Nuñez’s six-on-five goal with 3:38 left in the first quarter, but the Eagles rallied to take a halftime lead.

Shea Kopp scored on a counterattack with 30 seconds left in the half, then senior Jackie Johnston connected on a cross-cage shot with six seconds left to give Estancia a 5-4 lead.

“We let them chip away at us, because we got comfortable,” Dyvig said.

Senior Melissa Buchmann scored the Eagles’ first three goals, finishing with six overall. Naturally, she disagreed with Dyvig’s assessment of the rivalry.

“Overall, I think we are a better team than them,” Buchmann said. “We just have to think faster and have faster reactions to what’s going on around us. Unfortunately, some of the calls were also a little bit lopsided. We didn’t get what we should have gotten, in my opinion.”

The Eagles trailed for most of the second half, but took an 11-10 lead when Kopp recorded her sixth steal and converted it into a goal with 3:53 left in he game.

“That’s kind of my specialty,” Kopp said. “I’m more of the swimmer type than water polo.”

But Crandall answered on a six-on-five when her long-distance shot found the back of the cage with 2:23 left. And the Mustangs soon drew another exclusion, which set up Nuñez’s game-winner.

“I just like to take my shots from [the left-wing position],” Nuñez said. “That’s my strong point, and we’ve been working on our passes. We didn’t want to keep making small mistakes to fuel their fire.”

Mustangs’ Coach Tim Postiff said he was pleased with his team’s effort and opportunism. The Mustangs went five for eight on the power play.

“We’ve been working on that the last five or six days at practice,” Postiff said. “It paid off today … For the last two minutes of the game, we played defense really well. We didn’t give them any good looks at the cage, and if they did shoot, it was blocked by the goalie or a field player.”

Estancia remains hopeful that one day soon, it will end the drought against Mesa, even if seniors like Buchmann won’t be around for it.

“They have it next year,” Buchmann said of the Eagles. “They have Mesa. It’s that simple. We have a few amazing freshmen coming in, so it’s still a fair game next year.”

Crandall and Ashley Rendon had four steals each for Costa Mesa, and Brittany Mucha made eight saves.

For Estancia, seniors Hiranya Keenawinna and Chelsea Leon each had one steal.

Orange Coast League

Costa Mesa 12, Estancia 11

Score by Quarters

Costa Mesa

3

1

5

3

—

12

Estancia

2

3

3

3

—

11

Costa Mesa -- Nunez 7, Dyvig 2, Crandall 2, Rendon 1. Saves -- Mucha 8.

Estancia -- Buchmann 6, Kopp 2, Johnston 1, Peters 1, Kunert 1. Saves -- Kaplan 10.