LONG BEACH - Two years ago, several sophomores on the Riverside Arlington girls water polo team told Coach Bill Grisham that they believed they could win a CIF championship when they were seniors.

The Lions turned that belief into a reality in Tuesday's Division 5 final, but it certainly didn't come easily. After four quarters and two overtime periods, Arlington emerged with a 7-6 victory over Murrieta Valley.

"It makes it so much better because it was a hard game and we had to really earn it," said senior Brittany Koralewski, who scored five goals for the Lions. "It seems like all those dry land (workouts) and pain have finally paid off, and it feels really good."

The Nighthawks put up a championship-worthy fight in their first trip to the finals, often being the more aggressive team in a tightly played, physical contest at Belmont Olympic Pool.

Melissa de Jonckheere scored on Arlington's first possession of the game, but strong perimeter play by the Nighthawks earned them a 3-1 advantage late in the second period.

Arlington (25-5) regained the lead with 56 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Koralewski fed Ashley de Jonckheere in the post, and the junior lofted a perfect, left-handed lob over the top of Nighthawks goalie Kristen Stragier for a 5-4 advantage.

Murrieta Valley (29-4) made the most of one last chance in regulation. When Koralewski was excluded with 28 seconds remaining, Nighthawks senior Kelsie Arnold was left alone six meters from the cage. The senior hesitated for a second before lining the equalizer into the corner of the net with 23 seconds left.

"I had no idea I was going to have to do that," Arnold said. "For the past three weeks in practice, I've been working on that exact shot and the girls totally left me open. And I figured, if you're going to leave me open, I might as well shoot it."

The Lions played an aggressive foul-and-drop defense on the perimeter to contain Sonoda, while closely marking Kylander throughout the contest. The other Nighthawks took advantage of their opportunities from the perimeter with Arnold and Samantha Vanhaaster each scoring twice and Samantha Zetz scoring once.

"That's a pretty typical championship game," Murrieta Valley coach Bryan Lynton said. "We've studied them so much and they've studied us so much that they know who our scorers are and another girl has to step up."

Koralewski scored in both overtime periods, converting a four-meter penalty shot in the first and scoring off a cross from Brittany Honny in the second -- which proved an important insurance goal when Arnold skipped in a goal on the ensuing possession.

The Lions held strong the rest of the way, and two years after putting Grisham on notice, they finally got to push their veteran coach into the pool and collect the program's third CIF-Southern Section championship.

"It's an awesome feeling because we know (Grisham) wanted it just as much as we did," Koralewski said. "He sacrificed a lot to be there and coach us and this was the least we could give him."

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