Water Polo (Girls) | 3/4/2025 8:18:00 AM

Hailey Romano SportsStarsMagazine Interview
Francesca McNeil SportsStarMagazine Interview
Lillian La Raia SportsStarMagazine Interview


The following is an excerpt from an article in The San Diego Union-Tribune, "Cathedral Catholic, Clairemont win SoCal Regional water polo titles."


The Southern California regional girls water polo playoffs brought out the best in Cathedral Catholic freshman Francesca McNeil and her teammates.

McNeil scored five of her six goals in the first half to help ignite the top-seeded Dons en route a 20-5 victory over Lake Balboa Birmingham in the Division 3 final for their first regional title at Long Beach City College on Saturday.

Over its three SoCal playoff outings, Cathedral (28-4) outscored its opposition 50-13, becoming the third straight local team to take the D-3 crown.

"Everyone's so very excited, especially for our two seniors (Amalia Stehly and Hailey Romano),"  McNeil, one of six freshmen on the roster, said by phone. "All the hard work we put into this paid off."

Cathedral opened with a 6-0 surge against the No. 2 Patriots (20-10) on the way to a 10-3 halftime lead.

Hailey Romano and Madelyne Otero each added four goals and an assist for the Dons, while Lillian La Raia had nine assists to go with a goal. Freshman Ainsley Grosz held forth in goal.

"This group of girls really bought into what we're trying to build at Cathedral," said second-year Dons coach Jacob Pril. "They've dedicated and committed themselves since day one."

The Dons reached the finals for the first time since 2020 in D-2 when they made their third straight tourney appearance. Following a five-win season a year ago, they won this season's San Diego Section Division 2 crown.