IRVINE — Just as the fans in the stands tried to catch their breath, Corona del Mar High junior Leslee Kaczmarek had to hold hers.
After a timeout, Kaczmarek dove underwater during CdM’s CIF Southern Section Division I semifinal against Foothill on Wednesday at Irvine High.
Nobody really noticed. Those fans and the Foothill defenders were more worried with watching the five remaining Sea Kings players, who zig-zagged in front of the Foothill goal and yelled teammates’ names.
But when Kaczmarek popped back up and took the ball from goalie Kate Baldoni, she was open and she knew what to do.
She made the trick play work, scoring from seven meters out with 11 seconds to go to lift Corona del Mar to the dramatic 7-6 win.
Corona del Mar will play Newport Harbor on Saturday at 7 p.m., marking the first all-Back Bay CIF girls’ water polo final.
“We try and yell different names so nobody notices that I go underwater,” said Kaczmarek, whose three goals led CdM (24-6). “I popped up and got the ball and scored. If it doesn’t work, then I’m supposed to pass it to Elise [Molnar], who steps out and shoots it. But they didn’t foul me, so it really worked like we planned.”
How long was Kaczmarek underwater?
“A good five seconds,” she said. “I got kicked in the head, so it took a while to get up.”
The resiliency was in all of the CdM players, who battled to a 2-1 lead after a quarter behind a strike from Carissa Dice and a power-play goal from fellow senior Allison Peotter. The Sea Kings extended it to 3-1 midway through the second quarter, when Kaczmarek scored on a six-on-five.
But defending Division I champion Foothill (23-7) wouldn’t go away easily. The Knights tied the score at 3-3 by halftime, and took leads of 4-3 and 5-4 in the third quarter.
The last Foothill lead came when junior Brittany Zwirner scored from seven meters out.
Corona del Mar tied it when junior Victoria Kennedy scored a power-play goal with 5:22 left in the game. Then, after a steal from Molnar at set, junior Heather Van Hiel skipped in a shot from the right wing for a 6-5 CdM advantage.
Zwirner scored another perimeter goal with 3:28 left, tying the score again. She and senior Emily Klug each scored three times, accounting for all of Foothill’s scoring.
Defensively, the USC-bound Klug also shut down the Sea Kings at two meters for much of the game.
