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NEWPORT BEACH — Foothill’s girls water polo team features arguably the best player in Orange County in Rachel Gazzaniga. The Knights also have strong center play, an extra-motivated goalie and dangerous perimeter shooters.
They added mental toughness to their list of attributes Saturday.
Foothill bounced back from a loss in group play to sprint to the title in the Newport Invitational, defeating surprising The Bishop’s of La Jolla 13-7 in the championship match at Newport Harbor High.
The Knights (20-4), the top-ranked team in Orange County and CIF-SS Division 1, never trailed while making their case to be the No. 1 seed when the Open Division playoff pairings are announced Saturday, Feb. 4.
“It shows how strong (mentally) we are and how we’re able to bounce back from a tough loss, learn the mistakes we made and recover from them,” said Gazzaniga, who scored three goals in a well-rounded performance.
The USC-bound Gazzaniga also had an assist, three field blocks — including a thumping one at the end of the first period — two steals and drew a penalty and two exclusions to lead the Knights to their first major tournament title since the Holiday Cup of 2012-13.
Gazzaniga had plenty of help. Senior goalie Rachel Kirchner, limited to the junior varsity last season because of her transfer from Orange Lutheran, made 10 of her 15 saves in the second half.
Six other players joined Gazzaniga in the scoring.
Junior attacker Peyton Pierson scored three goals on perimeter shots, including a slick lob. Freshman Kirra Pantaleon added two goals, including a power-play strike with three seconds left in the second period that pushed Foothill’s lead to 8-5 at the half.
Sophomore lefty Ashley Kwan came off the bench to score twice while sophomore Eva Hourigan, junior center Deirdre Murphy and sophomore defender Chloe Patist each added one goal.
“We’re all-around a very well-rounded team,” said Kirchner, a UC Irvine commit. “We have such a great bond and it will really help us along the way.”
Foothill lost to Laguna Beach 10-9 on Friday but showed its resolve and balance by beating No. 2-seeded San Marcos 13-9 in the semifinals Saturday. Gazzaniga, Pierson and Hourigan each scored three goals for the Knights, who haven’t lost consecutive games this season.
“Every time we’ve been down, we’ve found a way to come back stronger the next day,” Foothill coach Paden Mitchell said. “We have some really good senior leaders in Rachel and Rachel. There are so supportive of the rest of the team.”
The Bishop’s, seeded sixth, upset Laguna Beach 13-12 in the semifinals in overtime to reach its second tournament final in the Orange County this season. The San Diego power struggled with two early fouls to national team player Julia Bonaguidi.
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“They’re as good as anybody up here,” Bishop’s co-coach Doug Peabody said of Foothill.
In the third-place match:
Laguna Beach 8, San Marcos 7: Charlotte Riches scored three goals and Lauren Schneider made 11 saves to lead the Breakers (17-7), who were without Ava Knepper (injury).