Splash City

Dolphins Beat Birmingham 13-8 for First Girls Water Polo Title

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Watching the final seconds tick off the clock must have felt like an eternity for senior

Sammy Stahl, who clutched the ball tightly in the middle of the pool waiting for the buzzer to sound before tossing it skyward in both joy and relief.

At the very same venue where it had suffered its biggest disappointment one year earlier, the Palisades High girls water polo team got to celebrate its greatest triumph and first-ever City Section championship after an impressive 13-8 victory over Birmingham last Thursday night at Valley College.

Having suffered five finals defeats—all to  Eagle Rock—including last season’s 9-8 heartbreaker after a delayed start because of a power outage, the top-seeded Dolphins left nothing to chance this time, never traili

ng at any point in their four playoff contests while outscoring the opposition 62-18. Stahl got Palisades off to a fast start in the final, scoring on a skip shot from the left side with less than two minutes gone. Two and a half minutes later, Adelaide Saab made it 2-0 and after Birmingham scored to cut its deficit in half, Saab converted a five-meter shot, then fed Julia Sansing in the hole for a 4-1 lead after the first quarter.   

Leighanne Estabrook scored to make it 5-1 early in the second quarter then Sansing tapped in a rebound after a shot by Sydney Brouwer  hit the post. The second-seeded Patriots closed to within 6-4 before Saab found the upper corner from far out and Maxine Eschger pushed a rebound past Birmingham goalie Mary Andranikyan. Mia Sanchez scored into an empty net off a giveaway to pull the Patriots within 8-5 by halftime, but the tone had been set.

“It’s all about movement and keeping the pressure on at all times,” said Pali High Coach Kirk Lazaruk, who helped pilot the Dolphins’ boys squad to its seventh straight City title and first Southern California Regional Division III title in the fall. “We knew we’d tire them out. We have many girls who can score. If one gets double-teamed it leaves another one open.”      

Saab, a freshman whose sister Elena was a senior captain last season, scored twice more, and Eschger, Brouwer and Sansing each tallied once in the second half to cement the win. Chloe Berrisford made numerous stops in goal.

Brouwer was presented the City’s inaugural Sportsmanship Award during introductions.    

Palisades (25-2) won 18 games in a row to open the year and is seeded No. 8 in the Southern California Regional Division II playoffs. The Dolphins play No. 1 Schurr at 2 p.m. Friday at Ocean View High in Huntington Beach.