Sailors dropped twice

Steve Virgen

It’s back to work for the Newport Harbor High boys water polo team,

which finished fourth in the South Coast tournament after an 8-6 loss

to El Toro Saturday at Corona del Mar.

What do the Sailors have to work on?

Newport Coach Jason Lynch said the Sailors are one dimensional and

they need for other players aside from senior two-meter man Michael

Bury to step up. This was apparent when El Toro and Servite, which

earned a 10-5 semifinal win over Newport, used a zone defense to

cramp the Sailors’ offense.

However, the Tars were still able to walk away with confidence,

considering they lost by two goals to El Toro, which ended Long Beach

Wilson’s 44-game winning streak Friday. Also, Servite went on to win

the South Coast tournament with an easy victory over Foothill, which

is in the Sea View League with Newport.

“We’re almost there, but it seems we just haven’t got over that

hump yet,” Lynch said. “We have to do a better job at dealing with

zone. We’re going to face a lot of that with a two-meter man as

strong as Bury. We have to be more balanced and other players have to

step up offensively.”

Lynch also said the Sailors must be more aggressive on their

counterattacks. They failed to take advantage of pushing the ball on

at least five occasions, Lynch said.

The Chargers (5-2) also benefited from Newport’s ejections, as

they gained 12 six-on-five opportunities. El Toro scored on five of

those chances, while the Sailors (3-4) went 0 for 1 on the extra-man

set.

El Toro led, 4-3, at halftime and then outscored Newport, 4-1 over

the next nine and a half minutes, basically putting the game out of

reach.

Bury scored two goals, while senior Griffin Gentry showed he might

be a player who can step up because he added three goals. Senior

Andrew Belden scored one goal for the Sailors.

In the semifinal, Bury and Gentry scored two goals each and senior

Bryan Auer added one goal. Junior goalie Michael Robinson recorded 11

saves against Servite and eight against El Toro.

Servite built a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring on a

six-on-five opportunity and a four-meter penalty shot. Newport

answered in the second quarter when Bury displayed power, bulling

past a defender to score a goal in the hole with 2:15 left before

halftime.

The Friars answered less than a minute later, and then 18 seconds

later Gentry scored with a backhand shot to pull the Sailors within,

3-2. But Servite scored two unanswered goals in the third quarter for

a 5-2 lead.

Newport went on a 3-0 run to pull within 6-5, as Bury capped the

spurt with a goal off an assist from senior Morgan Laidlaw. However,

the Friars scored the next four goals in the final four minutes to

secure the win.

*--*

South Coast tournament Third-place game

El Toro 8, Newport Harbor 6

Score by Quarters

Newport 1 2 1 2 -- 6

El Toro 2 2 2 2 -- 8

Newport -- Gentry 3, Bury 2, Belden 1. Saves --

Robinson 8.

El Toro -- Fuentes 3, Allen 2, Holbrook 1,

Lindstrom 1, Danna 1. Saves -- Shore 15.

*--*

*--*

Semifinals

Servite 10, Newport Harbor 5

Score by Quarters

Newport 0 2 2 1 -- 5

Servite 2 1 3 4 -- 10

Newport -- Bury 2, Gentry 2, Bry. Auer 1. Saves

-- Robinson 11. Servite -- Hewko 3, Lingle 3,

Bevins 2, McCall 1, Garcia 1. Saves -- Mesesan 9.

*--*