Sailors win in sudden death

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - Not a bad way to start the season.

After four quarters and two overtimes, it came down to a friendly bounce

in the direction of Newport Harbor High’s Brendon Hanson in Tuesday’s

nonleague water polo match against the top-ranked team in the

CIF-Southern Section, Division I power Long Beach Wilson.

Hanson turned that friendly bounce into the game-winning goal 45 seconds

into sudden death overtime for the third-ranked Sailors (ranked No. 1 in

the coaches poll) in a dramatic 11-10 win in both team’s season opener.

Hanson, Ryan Cook and Peter Belden each scored three goals and goalie Tim

Birdsong had 13 saves, some of the dramatic variety.

“He made five or six unbelievable saves that kept us in the game,”

Sailors assistant coach Brian Kreutzkamp said afterward. “I’m really

proud of our guys on their effort and determination today. I hope this is

as exciting as it gets. It can’t get much more exciting than that.”

Despite Hanson’s heroics, it was Belden’s hard work that allowed Hanson

to score.

In the sudden death, after Wilson’s Garth Severson shot wide, Newport

took possession.

Belden freed himself from his defender, forcing Cook’s defender to help

out, allowing Cook a free angled path to the goal.

Cook threw up a lob shot that evaded Bruins goalie Zack Walter, but

defender Albert Garcia made a miraculous save on the play, keeping the

ball out of the net.

Garcia, however, could not keep Hanson from recovering the loose ball and

slamming it into the back of the net for the win.

“Long Beach made the right play, allowing Cook the shot on the toughest

angle,” Kreutzkamp said. “I couldn’t believe that save Garcia had on the

shot.”

The 45 seconds of sudden death had more scoring opportunities than both

overtime periods combined.

“It seemed that both teams let up a little,” Kreutzkamp said. “Nobody

wanted to make the big mistake to cost their team the game.”

The overtime was a result of a game-tying goal, scored on a four-meter

penalty shot by Garcia with four seconds left, allowing the Bruins to

come back from a three-goal deficit with less than four minutes

remaining.

“We played solid, up until about the last two minutes,” Kreutzkamp said.

“I just told my guys to try to forget about what happened and to start

over in the overtime.”

Newport got off on a rather slow note against the Bruins, falling behind,

3-1, after the first quarter.

From there, Newport picked up its intensity in the second with two

quick goals by Belden and Robert Weiner to tie the game 3-3.

It was 5-5 early in the third quarter when Harbor missed numerous

opportunities to score.

Two six-on-five advantages and a four-meter penalty shot produced no

goals for the Sailors.

“I’m glad that missed penalty shot wasn’t the difference in the long

run,” Kreutzkamp said. “That player would have had that shot in his mind

for a long time.”

Newport took an 8-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter, before

finally taking advantage of the Bruins’ mistakes.

Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Belden was given a four-meter

penalty shot, infuriating Bruins Coach Ricardo Azevedo.

Azevedo was given a red card, ejecting him from the contest.

Belden scored to make it 9-7, before Cook scored on another man advantage

for a 10-7 lead.

Newport Harbor had 11 six-on-five advantages in the contest, six of

whick were caused by Belden.

Belden added three assists and eight steals, while Cook contributed

with three assists for the Sailors.

The Bruins were shorthanded, playing without Tony Azevedo, who will

return to the Bruins’ squad after playing the U.S. National Team in the

upcoming FINA Cup, in Sydney, Australia.

“If we play them again and they have Tony, we’ll have to play 100 times

better than we did today,” Kreutzkamp said. “He’s just an amazing

player.”NONLEAGUE

Newport Harbor 11, Long Beach Wilson 10

Score by Periods

Long Beach Wilson 3 2 2 3 0 0 0 - 10

Newport Harbor 1 4 3 2 0 0 1 - 11

Newport scoring: Belden, 3; Cook, 3; Hanson, 3; Weiner, 2. Saves:

Armstrong, 13.LB Wilson scoring: Campbell, 4; Garcia, 3; Shin, 2;

Pereira, 1.Saves: Walter, 10.