Newport Harbor strikes twice

Newport Harbor High’s girls water polo team continued its winning

ways this summer by capturing the championship of the Villa Park

18-and-under tournament Sunday.

With six victories in the tournament, the Sailors improved their

record this summer to 26-2 as they continue to prepare for the Junior

Olympics in two weeks.

Wins over Edison, Orange and Villa Park put Newport Harbor in the

semifinals. There, they defeated San Diego Shores 11-9. In the

championship game, the Sailors needed overtime to knock off Santa

Barbara, 13-12.

In the final, Anne Belden scored four times to lead Newport

Harbor. Jessica Ball and Carolyn Conway added three goals each and

Ashling Taylor had two goals and Sarah Mutt added one to round out

the scoring. Goalie Teryn Cottam had seven saves.

The Sailors came back from a 5-4 first-quarter deficit to take a

9-8 halftime lead. At the end of regulation, it was an 11-11 tie.

Mimicking their older counterparts, Newport Harbor’s girls

under-16 water polo team won all three games Sunday to claim the

eight-team Capistrano Valley 18- and-under tournament at Capo Valley

High.

Thirteen of the 15 girls Newport Coach Les Cutler used were

members of the frosh-soph team.

Newport defeated Tierra Santa, 13-3, in Game 1 and followed with

victories over Coronado (8-7) and San Diego Shores (4-3).

Cali Manderino, Kalli Lucas and Katie Kepner each led Newport

Harbor offensively, while Kendall Nelson and Elizabeth Layton shared

time in goal.

Manderino and Lucas each finished with 7 goals in the three games.

Keppner chipped in with six goals in the three games.