Foothill girls water polo beats San Clemente to end CIF-SS title drought

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WALNUT — Foothill and San Clemente’s girls water polo teams entered their showdown in CIF-SS Division 1 final Saturday aiming to end long title droughts. One only squad, however, could quench its thirst.

Foothill claimed the refreshment of championship pool party, and conquering heavy expectations, with a well-balanced effort at Mt. SAC.

Senior goalie Emma Perrigo made 15 saves and senior Gianna Romero scored five goals as the No. 2 seeded Knights won their first section title since 2007 with a wire-to-wire victory, 7-4, against the No. 1 seed Tritons.

After claiming the seventh CIF-SS championship in program history, Foothill coach Paden Mitchell, 37, joined his players in a victory plunge into the pool. The group formed a circle and cheered “Knights!” amid splashes.

“It feels awesome,” said Mitchell, who won his first crown in his third final. “It’s been 20 years since we’ve won our last CIF title. We won our 20th league title in a row this year so I was hoping we were going to break that 20-year drought and come back here and get a playoff (title). Great job by these girls.”

“It’s always been a heavy burden,” the coach added of the title pursuit. “Taking over for a guy like Jim (Brumm) who was there for so long. Tom DeLong. You had (Dave) Mikesell. Olympians in and out the door. For me, it’s just trying to have the best group of girls you can have and have them buy into the tradition.”

Perrigo, who is committed to Brown, made five of her saves against a San Clemente power play that finished 0 for 7.

Foothill (21-11), competing for the first time below the section’s premier playoff division, went 3 for 5 with the extra attacker, including two strikes by Romero.

“Off shooting day,” said San Clemente coach Logan Powell, whose program was seeking its first title since 2011. “Foothill) played really well. They did a nice job taking away our strengths and making us execute.”

“It was a great season for us,” added the coach, whose team won its 10th straight league title.

Romero, a 5-foot-2 attacker, signaled her breakout match by netting the first goal on a perimeter shot with 3:41 left in the first period.

In the second period, Foothill junior Elise Poissonnier drew one of her four exclusions that led to a power-play goal by Romero and 2-0 lead. San Clemente spent the rest of the match in pursuit mode and dropped to 0-4 against the Knights.

Ava Rowe, a UC Irvine commit, tallied three assists for Foothill. One of her best was a short pass to Romero on the left wing for a power-play strike for a 5-2 lead with 1:47 left in the third.

Foothill’s defensive effort included a sprint won by senior Victoria Cordero to open the third period to wipe out a power-play chance. Junior Ella Pitman added two field blocks.

“It feels really good to finally know that all of our work has paid off,” Romero said.

Terra Lindberg made all six of her saves in the second half to spark the Tritons (22-9).

Mitchell said his team will opt out of playing in the regional next week.