Girls water polo: Harbor knocks down two

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - The scoreboard would be an indication that the

Newport Harbor High girls water polo team has gained momentum from the

Sailors’ huge win over Back Bay rival Corona del Mar. The play in the

pool would prove otherwise.

Though the Tars (6-1) earned two victories in the Holiday Cup

tournament, Thursday, Harbor Coach Bill Barnett was not excited about the

performance, mostly in Harbor’s 7-4 win over Los Alamitos. The Sailors

also beat Poway, 11-5, Thursday night at Harbor’s pool.

The Holiday Cup is a three-day tournament co-hosted by Newport Harbor

and Corona del Mar.

“We made it close (against Los Alamitos),” Barnett said. “Our passing

and shooting was horrible. I think our girls were still living off the

victory over Corona del Mar.”

Against Los Alamitos, the Tars broke away from a 3-3 tie and outscored

the Griffins, 4-1, in the last 11 minutes.

Harbor sophomore Annie Wight, who connected for her first hat trick,

scored twice in the fourth quarter after senior Emily Glassic put one in

to close out the the third period.

“Because of our poor passing, our shooting was way off,” Barnett said.

“(But) we played good defense (in the fourth), that was the main thing.”

The Sailors’ defense also made up for their mistakes on offense,

Barnett said. Erin Ball, who scored one goal, snagged four steals, while

Wight had three. Jenna Booth and Katherine Belden (1 goal) had two steals

each.

The Tars improved their play with an 11-5 victory over Poway, in the

final game of the day.

The Sailors’ defense took off once again. Belden and Ball teamed for

nine steals. Harbor senior goalie Heather Deyden finished with five saves

as the Tars allowed just one goal scored in each of the last three

quarters.

Belden also helped on the offense. She scored two goals and dished out

four assists. Senior Jenna Booth threw in three goals for Harbor, while

Wight and Ball finished with two each.

The Tars’ tournament schedule becomes tougher today as they face

Foothill, No. 1 in Orange County, at 9 a.m. And then No. 4 Harbor will

take on No. 3 Santa Margarita at 12:15 p.m.