Local water polo girls to play for gold

The United States Women’s Youth National water polo team, featuring four Newport Beach players, will play for gold at the UANA Youth Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Team USA breezed past Puerto Rico, 22-4, in a tournament semifinal Friday. Mater Dei incoming senior Brianna Daboub scored twice, and CdM incoming sophomore Maddie Musselman and Newport Harbor incoming junior Rachel Whitelegge scored one goal each.

Carlee Kapana, another Sailors incoming junior, split time in goal and made five saves, helping Team USA improve to 6-0 in the tournament.

The United States will play Canada in the Pan Am championship match, scheduled for 11:45 a.m. Pacific time on Saturday. Canada got past Brazil, 9-3, in the other semifinal match.

Team USA and Canada met earlier in the tournament, with the U.S. winning, 9-7, on Tuesday. Daboub, Musselman and Whitelegge all scored in that game as well, and Kapana made 14 saves.

— Matt Szabo