El Toro's Girls Eliminated in Overtime From Water Polo Playoffs

The Outcome... Corona Santiago 17, El Toro 16

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more dramatic postseason girls water polo match than the Saturday afternoon clash between Santiago and El Toro. The game featured eight ties and ended up in overtime, where the visiting Sharks edged out their hosts by one goal in a back-and-forth CIF Southern Section Division 2 quarterfinal.

The Turning Point... The Sharks Grab Two-Goal Advantage in Overtime

Neither team led by more than two goals throughout the match, which was too tight to be decided in regulation. El Toro senior Nicole Browning buried her sixth goal of the contest as time expired in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 14 and send the game into overtime.

The extra session is split into two three-minute periods, in which every possession has a "life or death" feel. Santiago seized a two-score lead with just over one minute remaining in overtime when Mikayla Tyler scored her third goal of the game.

Although the deficit didn’t completely kill the Chargers hopes for a home victory, it certainly seemed to doom El Toro’s shot at a comeback.

The Difference... Santiago Took Advantage of El Toro Penalites

The Sharks scored six goals as a result of El Toro infractions. Santiago converted on five of its nine six-on-five opportunities and Julia Kirkland connected on a fourth-period penalty shot.

“We’ve been working on our 6-on-5 situations a lot lately because it’s something we haven’t been great at this year,” Kirkland said. “It has been a major part of practice, and today we were able to score in those situations. That really helped out today.”

Though El Toro managed to score on four of its eight power-play chances, the Chargers couldn’t keep up with Santiago’s proficiency.

“They definitely executed their 6-on-5 opportunities,” said Browning, who scored two goals on the afternoon. “If we would’ve executed a little better on our penalty chances, it would’ve made a big difference. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

It was Over When... Julia Kirkland Killed the Clock

The Chargers cut the deficit to one goal, at 17-16, with 36 seconds left and hoped to have another solid attack on net. Kirkland controlled the ball for Santiago with time draining off the shot clock, before tossing it toward an open net, where the ball floated harmlessly and time ran out on El Toro’s opportunity to send the game to a "sudden death" overtime.

The Aftermath... Santiago Moves on to Face Montebello in Semifinals

The third-seeded Sharks will compete for a third consecutive trip to the finals on Wednesday when they take on second-seeded Montebello at the William Wollett Jr. Aquatic Center in Irvine. Montebello defeated Mater Dei in other Saturday afternoon action

“There’s no doubt this win gets the team pumped up a bit moving forward,” Hudson said. “They’re confident about themselves heading into the semis and we’re ready to fight for the championship.”

El Toro is left on the doorstep of a final four appearance. The Chargers’ senior group, including leading-scorer Justine Morgan, were emotionally devastated after the heartbreaking loss.

“We wanted to win this game so badly and so did our fans,” Morgan said. “We fought so hard today and everyone came together. It’s just so tough to see it end this way.”

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