Mustangs cruise into second round

Barry Faulkner

You can swim, but you cannot hide.

That was the plain and simple truth Thursday for Los Amigos High

senior standout Kim Yarina, whose Los Amigos girls water polo squad

battled host Costa Mesa in the first round of the CIF Southern

Section Division VI playoffs at Estancia High.

Yarina, who has committed to continue her career at Orange Coast

College, has basically been the Lobos’ offense this season. Shooting

primarily from outside, she scored six goals in a 7-5 overtime win

over Warren in Tuesday’s wild-card round. She netted all four of the

visitors’ goals in Thursday’s 14-4 loss.

Yarina scored three in the first five minutes Thursday, including

rockets from 8 and 9 meters. But, thanks to the defensive pressure

applied by Costa Mesa junior Christine Twohig, Yarina, who took 13

shots, managed just one more goal in the final three seven-minute

periods. Twohig’s heroics allowed the Mustangs to cruise into

Saturday’s quarterfinals against No. 4-seeded Jurupa Valley.

The home team for Saturday’s game will be decided by a coin flip

today. Should Costa Mesa win the flip, it will try to play at either

Corona del Mar High or Newport Harbor, Coach Tim Postiff said.

Having beaten Los Amigos, 13-5, on Dec. 12 and also having watched

the Lobos’ win Tuesday, Postiff was well aware of Yarina’s

outstanding shooting ability. He adjusted his defensive matchups

accordingly.

“It was Christine’s job to shadow [Yarina],” said Postiff, who was

pleased with the results. “[Twohig] was a little hesitant and not as

physical as I’d like in the first quarter. But she made the

adjustment and [Yarina] had only one other goal the rest of the game.

I thought [Twohig] would match up well with [Yarina] because of

[Twohig’s] physicality, as well as the fact that she’s a pretty good

swimmer, so [Yarina] couldn’t get open with her speed.”

Twohig, who prides herself on her defense, said she was eager to

accept the challenge.

“It was fun,” said Twohig, who did not score, but added a

team-high four assists. “Especially when [Yarina’s teammates] were

looking to pass to her and she was telling them ‘No, no.’ That made

me feel really good.”

Junior Sarah Bowman and senior Jessica Steenhard also added to the

positive feelings for the Golden West League champions (17-12), who

were eliminated in the Division VI first round last season.

Bowman had six goals and four steals, while Steenhard contributed

a team-high six steals to go with three goals and one assist.

Sophomore Annie Le had two goals and two assists, while senior

goalie Quyen Nguyen made 10 saves.

Backup goalie Kelly Gentling made two sparkling saves and added an

assist in the final 2:29, after Mesa emptied the bench.

Los Amigos finished 13-8.

*--*

CIF Division VI

First round

Costa Mesa 14, Los Amigos 4 Score by Quarters

Los Amigos 3 0 1 0 -- 4

Costa Mesa 5 3 3 3 -- 14

*--*

Los Amigos -- Yarina 4. Saves -- Rigueur 3, Grays 3.

Costa Mesa -- Bowman 6, Steenhard 3, Le 2, Harris 1, Malapira 1,

Millian 1. Saves -- Q. Nguyen 10, Gentling 2.