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An excellent week for Los Alamitos’ girls water polo team got even better Thursday.

Sophomore attacker Cici DeLuca scored a power-play goal with 1:39 left in triple sudden-death overtime to lift the Griffins past host Newport Harbor in a Surf League match.

Los Alamitos (15-4, 3-0), ranked third in Orange County, scored twice in the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation to tie the score at 7-7, forcing overtime against No. 2 Newport Harbor (15-4, 1-2). The teams then played two three-minute overtime periods before the sudden-death periods.

On Tuesday, the Griffins defeated Laguna Beach 12-8 in league. They completed the first round of the Surf League on Thursday in first place.

“It’s a really big win for our program,” Los Alamitos coach Dave Carlson said. “This group of seniors has never beaten Newport Harbor in league before.”

Carlson said his team’s ability to connect on cross passes set up the winning goal by DeLuca, the daughter of former Los Alamitos standout goalie Jackie Frank. DeLuca scored off an assist by senior Olivia Ouellette, who took a pass from senior Isabel Valaika.

Ouellete scored with 2:04 left in the fourth period and coming out of a timeout with 21 seconds remaining to force overtime.

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Senior Olivia Slavens scored from center in the first, two-minute overtime to give Los Alamitos an 8-7 lead. Newport Harbor answered with its own strike from 2 meters in the next frame to force sudden-death.

Carlson praised the play of senior goalie Joey Niz in the fourth period and overtime.

More information to come on this story.