Sailors rally past Foothill, 8-7
Richard Dunn
While Newport Harbor High’s boys water polo team clinched its
second straight Sea View League title, Wednesday night’s
come-from-behind victory over host Foothill, 8-7, was much sweeter
for the Sailors than last year’s league championship.
With Foothill entering the picture this year to push the Sailors,
a longtime rivalry became much juicier with the league title at
stake.
“It’s the first real meaningful (league championship),” Newport
Harbor second-year coach Jason Lynch said. “It’s huge to have
Foothill come in here (to the Sea View League) and beat them. Last
year, (winning league) was a given.”
Foothill (14-11, 4-1 in league) had a 7-5 lead until Newport
Harbor senior driver Ross Sinclair scored on a four-meter shot with
4:12 left in the game to trigger the Sailors’ fourth-quarter rally,
which was capped by senior Brent Armstrong’s steal in the waning
seconds. Armstrong also ran out the final 21 seconds on the clock.
“We’re taught to do that,” Armstrong said of his knack for pushing
the ball away from Foothill defender Jayce Seymour, taking fouls and
protecting the ball while the game’s final precious seconds ticked
away.
“It’s hard sometimes, but you just have to stay on your legs. It
makes your heart pound knowing there are 17 seconds left and if they
get the ball back they have a chance of tying the game. It makes you
feel good when the clock finally runs out.”
The Sailors (18-9, 5-0), ranked No. 3 in Orange County and No. 5
in the Southland, tied the game, 7-7, on Jay Thompson’s counterattack
goal with 2:12 left on an assist by Nathan Weiner.
After a Foothill offensive foul gave Newport Harbor possession
with 1:55 to play, the Sailors converted for the winning goal.
Newport drew a Foothill ejection at 1:29, then Weiner scored five
seconds later on the man advantage.
Foothill, ranked seventh in the county and eighth in the
Southland, attempted a shot on its next trip down, but the ball
skimmed the water and Newport Harbor goalie Nathan McLain was
credited with a save.
Foothill goalie Sandy Hohener stopped a shot, then turnovers were
exchanged before the Knights had possession with less than 30 seconds
left.
Armstrong made his steal while guarding the hole, then protected
the ball as Seymour chased him to no avail. Newport Harbor called
timeout with 0:07 to play, and the ball ended up in Armstrong’s hands
again.
“We just told our guys at the beginning of the fourth quarter
that, ‘hey, this is your quarter, this is your game,’” said Lynch,
whose team, which will probably be seeded fourth in the upcoming CIF
Southern Section Division I Playoffs. “We’ve come back more than once
this year. We were down six to Corona del Mar once (before losing
17-15 in overtime) ... our counterattack was intense in the fourth
quarter. That’s what we preach around here, the fact that we’re in
shape. We work hard.”
The Tars, who scored on half of their 10 player-advantage
situations, had only one other lead in the game -- and that was 1-0.
The game was tied four times. Foothill enjoyed two-goal leads at
5-3 early in the third quarter, 6-4 midway through the third and 7-5
at third quarter’s end -- the largest leads of the contest.
“We just went hard in the fourth quarter,” Sinclair said. “We know
how to come back. We came back in the fourth quarter against Corona
del Mar, but came up just short. We worked too hard to lose this one.
We worked hard and it paid off.”
Newport Harbor tied it for the third time, 3-3, when Sinclair
scored with 0:37 remaining in the first half, after getting a pass
from Armstrong and pushing the ball to close range before firing a
strike past Hohener.
Foothill, however, took the lead before recess, 4-3, on Alex
Cripe’s goal with 0:27 left.
Armstrong and Sinclair scored twice, while Michael Bury, Charlie
Hockenberry, Weiner and Thompson added one each.
SEA VIEW LEAGUE
Newport Harbor 8, Foothill 7
Score by Quarters
Newport 1 2 2 3
- 8
Foothill 2 2 3 0
-- 7
Newport - Sinclair 2, Armstrong 2, Hockenberry 1, Bury
1, Thompson 1, Weiner 1. Saves: McLain 2.
Foothill - Wills 2, Reynolds 2, Oland 2, Cripe 1. Saves:
Hohener 6.
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