Costa Mesa girls’ water polo can’t stop California in CIF Division 5 title match

IRVINE —  Sey Currie stood on the pool deck at Woollett Aquatics Center and was a bit contemplative after the final whistle.

The Costa Mesa High senior team captain has been a true leader for girls’ water polo, coach Dustin Serrano said, both with the high school team and with Costa Mesa Aquatics Club.

Currie helped lead the Mustangs to their first CIF Southern Section title match in program history Saturday night.

“We didn’t really play our best game,” Currie said calmly. “I hope that next year they come out and win the whole thing and I’ll be here to watch.”

Top-seeded Costa Mesa lost 10-6 to No. 2-seeded Whittier California in the Division 5 title match.

The match started well enough for Costa Mesa (24-7). Lauren Kiefer scored an early goal. After Taiuta Uiagalelei’s goal inside assisted by junior co-captain Hanna Jackson, the Mustangs took a 2-1 lead with 2:46 remaining in the first quarter.

By the time the Mustangs scored again, they trailed by three goals. Currie drove inside and hit a cross-cage lob shot in the final minute of the first half, but Costa Mesa fell behind 5-3 at halftime.

“We know going in that they were a really good team, and it was going to be a fight,” Currie said. “I just don’t think we were really prepared for the stands, and the crowd. We were all very nervous the whole game. Everyone mentally shut down ... [but] even though we lost, it was still a really good game. It was a really great run.”

Jackson also scored for Costa Mesa, which got seven saves from senior goalkeeper Malia Tufuga through the first three quarters. Freshman Dharma Andreas played the fourth quarter in goal and made two saves.

Freshman Myah Ibarra and junior Victoria Padilla each scored four goals for California (24-8), which like Costa Mesa, is not used to postseason success.

“They’ve only gone to the first round for the last 10 or 12 years,” California coach David Brown said. “They’ve either lost in the wild-card [match] or the first round. It was just their team unity, coming together and creating that bond. We’re going to win and lose together. There’s no ‘I’ in team, and that’s the biggest thing.”

Costa Mesa freshman Kira Anderson tried to bring the Mustangs back. She scored her only two goals of the match in the fourth quarter, and the second brought Mesa within 9-6 with 2:18 remaining. But Costa Mesa could not get closer.

Padilla scored the final goal on a penalty shot. It was the Condors’ third penalty-shot goal of the match.

Serrano said that Anderson tied the school record for single-season goals with 121. Sarah Bowman also scored 121 goals in 2005.

“They just came out swinging in that second [quarter],” Serrano said. “I think the pressure got to us when they took the lead. That’s when it really came down on us, that we were playing a team that wanted to win just as much as we wanted to win. At the end of the day, I’m more proud of these girls for making history for our school. I know they’ve got the taste in their mouths now for a championship run.

“We had moments, but to honest, I think the nerves got to us tonight. We’ll get them next year.”

The Orange Coast League champion Mustangs will graduate three senior starters in Currie, Concordia University-bound Uiagalelei and Tufuga, who is headed to Stanford for volleyball.

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