GIRLS WATER POLO: Defense Powers Lancers to Title Match

The Score: St. Francis 4, Leland 3

The Star: St. Francis High's goalie Madeline Hurley made 11 saves to help the Lancers advance to the Central Coast Section Division I championship match with a semifinal win at Menlo-Atherton.

The Turning Point: Leland's Jamie Nolan had a chance to tie the game with just over a minute left, but she hit the goal post with her shot.

The Quote: "We started out really strong with three goals in the first period and stopped scoring. Definitely give credit to their goalie (Ashley Arras) playing well. We were playing a little nervous, I think." —St. Francis coach Brendon Reutebuch, after the Lancers prevailed by a one-goal margin.

What's Next? The CCS Division I title match. Bidding for its third straight championship, third-seeded St. Francis faces No. 1 seed Menlo-Atherton at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Independence High in San Jose.

The Bottom Line: This will be the third consecutive year St. Francis and Menlo-Atherton have met in the CCS Division I final. The Lancers won the prior two meetings.

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St. Francis High is headed to the Central Coast Section girls water polo championship game yet again. The Lancers defeated a gutty Leland team on Wednesday, 4-3, in the Division I semifinals to earn their 12th trip to the finals in 16 years of CCS competition and fifth in a row.

But this team is a little different than the ones that won the last two Division I titles.

"Being a two-time defending champion, it's always nice to go," St. Francis coach Brendon Reutebuch said. "But I think (assistant) coach (Erin) Inkster and I agree that our expectations were, not below this, but we weren't sure what we had. We had a lot of new people. Our goalie was our backup JV goalie last year. Now, she's a star for us."

That would be Madeline Hurley, who made 11 saves on Wednesday. Hurley was needed because the Lancers' offense all but stopped after the first three minutes, 13 seconds of the game.

St. Francis jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals from Kellyanne Whitney and Caroline Hansen (twice) in the early going. But the Lancers wouldn't score again for over 19 minutes of clock time. Hurley was nails in the net, keeping Leland from being able to take advantage.

"I play club with some of the (Leland) girls so I know some of the girls have really good shots, so I expected it to be a higher-scoring game," Hurley said. "I was a little nervous because it was such a big audience, but I felt pretty good, I felt pretty aware."

Leland goalie Ashley Arras matched Hurley save-for-save, also tallying 11 saves.

"Playoffs get a little tighter," Reutebuch said. "We both had good goalies, and that's the difference. All of those shots that could be goals against anyone else, they're getting blocked."

At this point, Leland is sick of seeing St. Francis in the semifinals. It was the third consecutive year that the Chargers lost to the Lancers.

"St. Francis, it's always a one-goal game and Brendon's a heck of a coach. His players, they execute to perfection. The first quarter, we let little bit of openings and they were able to put away and we were able to clamp down our defense and they were able to clamp down at about the same time. Maddy's done real well in goal for them. Caroline and Kat (Delong) are D-I prospects. Against talent like that, it's pretty impressive for our girls."

St. Francis will be looking for its seventh CCS title on Saturday.

"Last year, we knew where we would be at the end of the year," Reutebuch said. "It was obvious. We had the talent and the drive. These guys have so much fun and love of each other. It's such a fun group to be around, not that last year's wasn't. It's a different dynamic. They enjoy, while the other ones just wanted to win. It's a different trip every year. We're happy to be back in the championship."

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St. Francis 4, Leland 3

SF 3 0 1 0 – 4

Lel. 1 1 1 0 – 3

Goals: SF – Hansen 2, Whitney, Hayden. LEL – Samson 2, Norton.

Saves: SF – Hurley 11. LEL – Arras 11.

Records: St. Francis 18-8.  Leland 23-4.