Girls’ Water Polo: CdM-Foothill preview

CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinal

No. 2 Foothill (25-3) vs. No. 3 Corona del Mar (25-4)

When/where: Wednesday, 5 p.m. at Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine

Key Knights: Sr. utility Nikki Stansfield (team-high 61 goals); Sr. attacker Brenna Thomas (44 goals); Sr. center Hannah Lapkin (41 goals); Soph. utility Cana Manzella (40 goals); Sr. GK Kelsey Rowland (146 saves).

Key Sea Kings: Sr. utility Stephania Haralabidis (team-high 56 goals, 22 assists, 48 steals); Sr. attacker Cassidy Papa (49 goals, team-high 50 assists, 30 steals); Sr. utility Ioanna Haralabidis (40 goals, 17 assists, 27 steals); Sr. attacker Ally McCormick (52 goals, 29 assists, 33 steals); Fr. utility Maddie Musselman (35 goals, 18 assists, team-high 16 field blocks and team-high 50 steals).

Breakdown: Foothill and CdM meet in the Division 1 semifinals for the third straight year … The Knights won in overtime in 2011 and the Sea Kings won in overtime in 2012 … Foothill is 2-0 against CdM this season. The Century League champion Knights won, 9-7, in the semifinals of the Holiday Cup and also won, 6-5, in the semifinals of the Irvine Southern California Championships … The Haralabidis twins (transfer sit-out period) did not play in the teams’ first matchup, and Foothill’s Manzella (sick) missed the second matchup ... CdM has won six straight games since that second Foothill loss ... CdM, the Pacific Coast League champion, was top-ranked in the preseason Division 1 poll but failed to make the finals of any of the three in-season tournaments … CdM is in at least the CIF semifinals for the 14th straight year, but has yet to win a Division 1 title … The Sea Kings are trying for their fourth Division 1 finals appearance in seven years since being moved up from Division 2 in 2006-07 ... Wednesday’s semfinals will be streamed online by GoLive Polo (www.golivepolo.com).

Prediction: CdM 7, Foothill 6

— Matt Szabo