Stanford upset highlights Newport tournament run

Bryce Alderton

The Newport Harbor girls 18-and-under water polo team had upset on

their minds and that’s exactly what they did to Stanford Aug. 1 in

the National Junior Olympics in Contra Costa County in Northern

California.

The 5-4 win over Stanford improved Newport to 2-0 in the

tournament that featured 40 teams from across the nation competing in

nine venues spread across the Walnut Creek-Lafayette area of Northern

California.

Newport won its first four games, racking up 33 goals in those

games before losing to Commerce, 10-9 at the buzzer Aug. 9 to finish

the tournament, 4-1.

After beating Mercer Island, Wash. 14-3 in their first game,

Newport Harbor held off Stanford, 5-4, in a see-saw match that saw

Stanford tie the game but never take the lead.

Newport Coach Bill Barnett called the game, “one of the best games

we’ve played all year,” as Ashley Parole led all players with two

goals while Annie Wight, Anne Belden and Jessie Ball each scored one

in the win.

Strong defense was provided by Paige Lansing and Jenna Murphy,

holding Stanford scoreless until late in the third quarter. Goalie

Terrin Cottam made eight saves, as Newport survived a furious push by

the Cardinal, who had a player advantage in the final 50 seconds.

In the 14-3 victory over Mercer Island July 31, Wight scored eight

of her 13 tournament-goals as Murphy scored three and Jennifer

Scharfe added a pair. K.T. Adnoff added one goal after Lansing stole

the ball and passed off to Adnoff.

After the Stanford win Newport continued its strong play,

defeating RB Tsunami from Carlsbad, 7-1, to go 3-0 in the tournament

as Wight scored three goals, Murphy tossed in two and Lansing and

Adnoff each added one. Cottam had six saves and finished the

tournament with 30.

Newport defeated Clovis, 7-4, in the first of their two games Aug.

2 as Lansing led all scorers with three goals while Wight scored two

and also led the defense with four saves. Parole and Murphy rounded

out the Newport scoring with one goal apiece as Cottam shut out

Clovis until well into the second quarter.

With the win over Clovis, Newport Harbor faced Commerce later Aug.

2. Commerce, who defeated Newport in sudden-death at the Villa Park

Tournament in July, withstood a surging Newport attack that rallied

from a 5-1 deficit at the half before losing, 10-9.

Commerce built a 7-3 lead but Newport came back in the fourth

quarter on successive goals by Murphy, who led Newport with three

goals, Ball and Belden to close the gap to 7-6.

Lansing stole the ball and swam the length of the pool to fire a

skip shot that knotted the match, 8-8, but Commerce responded to

retake the lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Newport started the match strong, as Wight and Ball made two quick

steals and gave the offense two wide-open shots but both balls hit

the cross bar.