SOUTHERN SECTION WATER POLO PLAYOFFS : Rule Helps Sunny Hills Edge Sailors

FULLERTON —  Newport Harbor High School could only watch as the final seconds ran out Tuesday. Watch and ponder a multitude of wasted opportunities.

The third-seeded Sailors had their chances against Sunny Hills in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section 4-A water polo playoffs. But with the aid of a new rule, the unseeded Lancers were able to hold on for a 7-6 victory at Independence Park in Fullerton.

With 36 seconds left and Sunny Hills clinging to a one-goal lead, the Lancers went into a stall. They ran off the allotted 35 seconds on the shot clock and left the Sailors only one second to try to tie the match.

Newport Harbor didn’t even get a shot off.

“That’s something we work on in practice and use in big games,” Sunny Hills Coach Keith Nighswonger said. “You just have to hope nobody takes a shot no matter what. Even if the goal is empty.”

Last season, such a ploy would have been impossible.

Under Southern Section rules, a team had to show progress in the pool and could not stall. But that rule was changed this season and the Lancers (19-9) used it to their advantage.

Sunny Hills spread out the pool and played catch for the 35 seconds while the Sailors desperately tried to apply pressure and force a turnover.

“I have never been in favor of the rule change,” said Newport Harbor Coach Bill Barnett, who also coaches the U.S. national team. “It teaches kids bad habits. Then we have to retrain them at the national level.”

But as excuses go, Newport Harbor didn’t have a leg to tread water with. There were just too many wasted opportunities.

Newport Harbor (18-10) capitalized on only one of five power plays. Twice they missed shots in close and two other times Sunny Hills goalie Andrew Tinseth made diving saves.

The Sailors also had three shots hit the crossbar.

Sunny Hills had its own problems on offense, but did manage a 4-0 run in the second quarter to erase a 2-1 deficit.

Christian Corrigan, who missed part of the season with a broken collarbone, scored two of the goals in the second quarter, including a backhand shot with 15 seconds left to give the Lancers a 5-2 halftime lead.

Newport Harbor shut out the Lancers in the third quarter and trailed only 6-4 midway through the fourth. However, Michael Thompson scored off a rebound with 2:43 left to give the Lancers a three-goal lead.

Sunny Hills plays second-seeded Villa Park Thursday in the semifinal round.

In other 4-A quarterfinal matches:

Villa Park 9, Millikan 6--Millikan led 4-2 late in the second quarter but didn’t score again until the fourth, and Villa Park scored six consecutive goals to take an 8-4 lead at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. Gavin Arroyo scored three goals and Gary Larson and Neal Blockmeier had two eachfor the Spartans (24-4).

El Dorado 14, University 10--The Hawks, seeded No. 1, survived a scare from the unseeded Trojans at Heritage Park in Irvine. El Dorado (25-3) trailed 10-8 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter but scored twice to tie the match, 10-10, and shut University out in the fourth quarter.

Matt Maclear and Kyle Utsumi led the Hawks with four goals each. El Dorado plays unseeded Corona del Mar Thursday in the semifinal round.

Corona del Mar 10, Long Beach Wilson 4--Ryan Weir had three goals to lead Corona del Mar (26-3) past the fourth-seeded team at Belmont Plaza. Brandon Howald, Gunnar Gustafson and Scott Tucker had two goals each for Corona del Mar.