PALO ALTO >> Junior two-meter talent Violet Rubin scored the go-ahead goal on a long-range shot with 58 seconds left, and the No. 2 seed Santa Cruz High girls water polo team held off No. 3 Harker of San Jose 6-5 in the Central Coast Section Division II semifinals at Gunn High on Tuesday.

The Cardinals (14-8 overall), who tied Aptos for second place in the the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League, will play the Mariners (16-10) for the section crown on Saturday at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Atherton. The start time hasn’t yet been released.

Santa Cruz, which claimed its first section title in D-II in 2021, will play in its third section final since ’19. Aptos, a D-II finalist in ’21 and ’23, is seeking its first section title.

“I’m feeling really great,” Rubin said. “I think we locked in on defense. ‘Offense starts on defense’ is what they say, and I feel like we achieved that.”

Rubin credited sophomore goalie Sage Steller-Croll with the game-winning assist, though it came days ago at practice.

“Our goalie told us this trick in practice two days ago,” Rubin said. ” ‘A goalie will bait on five meters and they’ll go toward the side opposite side you want them to shoot.’ And I was like, ‘OK, she going toward the left, so I have to shoot left.’ “

It was Rubin’s lone goal of the game.

Santa Cruz snapped a three-match losing streak against Harker, the third-place finisher in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division, dating back to a 9-8 setback in the 2022 CCS semifinals. That playoff game was decided in the final 20 seconds.

“I credit my team,” said first-year Cardinals coach Maxwell Dapkus, an Archbishop Mitty alum. “I have seven seniors, they play together. They’ve made my job really easy. … Obviously, we have a great goalie. We work together on defense really well. Aside from some really dominant teams, we tend to hold teams to six or seven goals. Sometimes manufacturing offense is more of our issue than preventing it.”

Dapkus offered the Cardinals some encouraging words at the outset of the season, and they’re proving him right.

“I’m having the time of my life,” the coach said. “I said at the beginning of the season, I said, ‘We have a special group here and I want to see what we can.’ And, so far, we’ve delivered.”

Speaking of deliveries, Dapkus’ wife, Alex, was poolside, pregnant with the couple’s second child, who is due Nov. 24. He warned his assistant coaches and players that he may have cut out on a moment’s notice.

“We’re having a little girl, and I keep telling my daughter to stay in there for a couple of more days,” he said.

The Cardinals’ second meeting this season against Harker featured a fourth-quarter flurry of scoring. Well, compared to the rest of the game.

Santa Cruz led 2-1 after the first quarter and 3-2 at the half, but the Eagles’ Melody Yin produced the lone goal of the third quarter on a lob over Steller-Croll to knot the score at 3-all.

Alana Brill scored on a fast break early in the fourth to give the Eagles a short-lived lead, but Santa Cruz’s Daphne Olson scored twice in a 46-second span to put the Cardinals ahead 5-4.

Summer Adler produced the equalizer for Harker with 4:06 remaining, but it was the last shot the Eagles would get past Steller-Croll, who finished with nine saves.

Seniors Malia Cooper and Giulia D’Souza, and sophomore Tessa Jefferies also scored for the Cardinals.

Zoe Cammer led Harker with two goals.

Aptos 12, Valley Christian 8

PALO ALTO — Senior Adriana Santillano scored six goals, and the No. 1 Mariners rolled past the No. 4 Warriors in the CCS D-II semifinals at Gunn High on Tuesday.

“I’m just glad that my outside shooting is actually working,” Santillano said. “Sometimes it’s off, but we had a good day. … We, obviously, have a lot of people who are strong in a lot of different areas, which makes our team very versatile, which is super helpful.”

Junior Bellame Breen scored three goals for the Mariners, who tied Santa Cruz for second place in the SCCAL. Juniors Adelaide Friedley and Madi Knudsen, and sophomore Kenadi Chitwood also scored for Aptos.

“These girls played big today and definitely made the finishing kinda moves at the end there,” said Mariners coach Cody Gilbert. “And I was also able to play everyone, too. That always makes the day better.”

The Mariners won all four sprints to start each quarter.

Valley Christian, the sixth-place finisher in the West Catholic Athletic League, took its lone lead midway through the first quarter, 2-1. Aptos scored five unanswered goals to jump ahead 6-2 and it kept the Warriors at arm’s length the remainder of the game.

Two of Breen’s goals came on penalty shots, but her other tally was one of the shots of the game. She scored with her head completely submerged as she fought through her opponent’s physical defense.

“Bellame is a little demon,” Santillano said. “She is tiny, but so mighty. You cannot underestimate her and her energy. She’s one of the greatest people you’ll ever meet. She’s just so funny and just so fun to be around.”

Breen’s second penalty shot put the Mariners up 7-4 early in the third quarter, and Santillano scored her team’s final five goals to give it a 12-6 lead with 3:29 remaining.

Sophomore goalie Mary Suarez-Abraham made seven saves for the Mariners. She was also an integral piece of her team’s counterattack, and often placed long passes just ahead of her swimming teammates, so they could gather the ball seamlessly without breaking their stride.

“Mary has always been one of the most amazing goalkeepers that I’ve ever known,” Santillano said. “I always love bragging about how I have Mary and they don’t, because she’s just so amazing.”

Grace Herrin scored three goals for the Warriors. Charli Walters and Sophia Pyper each scored twice, and Isabella Denena added a goal.

Soquel 11, Stevenson 7

ATHERTON — Freshman Grace Graessle had three goals and two assists, and the No. 2 Knights rallied past the No. 3 Pirates in the Open Division semifinals at Sacred Heart Prep High on Tuesday.

Soquel (22-6) plays at No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep (26-2), the defending champion, in the final on Saturday. The start time hasn’t yet been released.

The Knights are seeking their third Open title in a four-year span.

Soquel trailed 5-3 at the half, but outscored the Pirates, the Pacific Coast Athletic League champion, 5-0 in the third quarter and 3-2 in the fourth quarter.

Freshman utility Keira “Kiki” Burke had two goals, one assist, three steals, and drawing one kick out for the Knights, the SCCAL champion. Junior Natasha Ackerstein recorded two goals and two ejection drawn, and sophomore attacker Izzy Bridi-Milligan had two goals, one assist, and one steal.

Soquel sophomore attacker Liz Penny with one goal, three assists, two steals, and three ejections drawn, and junior Natalie Salerno with one goal, one assist, and one steal.

Senior captain and goalie Maddison Barwick recording a whopping 15 saves for the Knights.