Girls water polo: Newport falls to Santa Barbara, 4-2

Joseph Boo

LAKE FOREST - Friday’s girls water polo game between Newport Harbor

High and Santa Barbara were for people who love pitching duels and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Defense was all over the pool in El Toro during the

quarterfinals of the Irvine Southern California Championships, and the

Dons got a few more defensive stops then Sailors for a 4-2 win.

Newport (18-5) moves on to face Long Beach Wilson today, in a fifth place

semifinal game. The game is at Irvine, 9 a.m.

Santa Barbara, 21-1 and ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division II,

formed an impenetrable wall around its goal, as Newport, ranked No. 7 in

Division I, was held to two Kyndra Cox goals.

“Can’t shoot, can’t pass, can’t win,” Newport Harbor Coach Bill Barnett

simply said.

What summed up the game for Newport was its inability to convert

six-on-five opportunities. The Sailors had a one-player advantage five

times and failed to score. That included one stretch in the third quarter

where they had three six-on-fives in four minutes.

“We can’t score if we pass (poorly),” Barnett said. “We had three or four

times in a row where we had a one- or two-player advantage, and we

couldn’t even pass.”

Newport came achingly close to converting one when Katherine Belden fired

a shot that bounced off the upper-left corner in the second. The Sailors

got some good shots on goal, but Santa Barbara goalie Erin Conaway was

solid with 10 saves.

Despite its troubles on offense, Newport held Santa Barbara’s powerful

offense in check. The Dons scored twice in the first three minutes, but

went scoreless for 17 minutes. The Sailors maintained constant pressure

on Santa Barbara, and Newport goalie Heather Deyden made seven saves.

“Our defense played extremely well,” Barnett said.

Newport cut the lead to 2-1 in the first quarter when Cox whiplashed

McKenna Mosier’s feed into the goal from the two-meter spot. That score

held until the end of the third, when Thalia Munro scored her second

goal.

Munro, who had three goals, was the only Santa Barbara player able to

crack through Newport’s defense. She scored with 47 seconds left to give

her team a 4-1 lead. Cox got her second goal immediately after, but it

was too little, too late.

IRVINE SOUTHERN CALIFORNA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Quarterfinals

Santa Barbara 4, Newport Harbor 2

Newport Harbor 1 0 0 1 - 2

Santa Barbara 2 0 1 1 - 4

Newport Harbor - Cox 2. Saves - Deyden 7.

Santa Barbara - Munro 3, Nisbet 1. Saves - Conaway 10.