Los Amigos girls’ water polo falls short in upset bid against Jurupa Valley
WESTMINSTER — The Los Amigos girls’ water polo team found itself in a position it might not have collectively imagined when the season began, a goal and some three minutes away from a potential championship game appearance.
Rosa Felix’s third goal, with just over two minutes remaining, spared top-seeded Jurupa Valley the upset, as the host Lobos fell to the Jaguars 6-5 in a CIF Southern Section Division 6 semifinal at La Quinta High.
“Our goal was maybe to hopefully win [the Garden Grove] League, but to make it to the semifinals was a really big deal for them,” Los Amigos coach Christi Montes said. “Any loss is hard to take. Our shots weren’t on today, and it’s just a difference of a goal, small little mistakes, but they played their hearts out.”
Los Amigos (9-10), which shared the Garden Grove League championship with La Quinta and Rancho Alamitos, was on the verge of doing bigger things.
Led by goalkeeper Litzy Sanchez, one of nine seniors on the team, the Lobos kept themselves within striking distance the whole way. Jurupa Valley held five one-goal leads, with Felix’s goal from the left wing with 2:17 left finally going unanswered.
“She helped a lot,” senior utility player Janely Amador said of Sanchez. “She helped us, directing us. She was our eyes.”
Amador had two second-half goals — both from distance — the last knotting the score at 5-5 from seven meters out with 2:27 to go. The Jaguars jumped back in front on their next possession.
“It’s just been about building up a team over the past two years, getting the girls back into playing again since COVID,” Montes said. “We started off kind of really rough and not expecting much besides having fun and building a team, and it turned into this. It’s been awesome. They’ve been getting better and better each game and playing together as a team.”
Alexa Arostico, Emelyn Perez and Andrea Sanchez each scored one goal for Los Amigos.
Carmy Brambila scored twice for Jurupa Valley (17-5), which will square off with second-seeded Placentia Valencia (13-10) in the final on Saturday at William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center. Hailey Fry also had a goal for the Jaguars.
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