San Clemente Defensive in Victory Over Foothill

San Clemente held Santa Ana Foothill scoreless the final 16 minutes of a Southern Section Division I quarterfinal boys’ water polo game Saturday, paving the way for a 5-3 victory at Newport Beach Newport Harbor High.

San Clemente goalkeeper Jeff Hopps stopped 12 shots, including one on a four-meter penalty throw with the score tied early in the second quarter. Logan Powell played strong two-meter defense against Foothill’s leading scorer, Alex Cripe, who didn’t have a shot on goal.

San Clemente lost two of three games to Foothill earlier this season, but Saturday was the first time Powell was given the task of guarding Cripe the entire game, said San Clemente Coach Mark Parker. “It was all defense,” Parker said. “I’ve been preaching it for two weeks straight.”

Andy Skora gave San Clemente (18-11) a 2-0 lead on his first two shots of the opening quarter, but the Tritons didn’t take another shot for nearly seven minutes.

Foothill (18-10) took a 3-2 lead when Bryan Oland scored with 1:55 left in the first half, but that would be the Knights’ final goal. Powell tied the score 46 seconds later on a rebound. Sean Staudenbaur then scored twice in the third quarter for the fourth-seeded Tritons, who will play top-seeded Long Beach Wilson on Wednesday.

*

North Hollywood-Harvard Westlake 13, Newport Beach Newport Harbor 5--Marty Mathies and Kevin Schwimer scored three goals each for Harvard-Westlake (17-4), which outscored the Sailors, 5-1, in the second quarter for an 8-3 halftime lead. The third-seeded Wolverines will play second-seeded El Toro, a 5-4 winner over Villa Park, in the semifinals.