Taking care of business

Steve Virgen

Coach Bill Barnett’s Newport Harbor High girls water polo team is 4-0

to start the season, but if anyone knows the coach, success is not

necessarily about wins and losses.

The Sailors earned two victories to open the Newport Harbor-Corona

del Mar Holiday Cup, yet Barnett and his players noticed areas which

needed improvement. Patience was a quality needed for the Sailors in

their 9-5 quarterfinal win over Santa Margarita Saturday afternoon at

Newport.

Barnett, as well as senior Carolyn Conway and junior Anne Belden,

recognized the Sailors’ impatience, particularly in the first half.

Newport built a 2-0 lead, but Santa Margarita (3-3) bounced back to

knot the score less than two minutes into the second quarter. Conway

scored her third goal of the game, putting Newport up, 3-2, with 2:38

left before halftime.

“We’re just trying to get our overall game in gear,” Barnett said.

“We’re not getting everyone involved, only our two-meter players.”

Barnett also said the wind was a factor in the game, and when

Newport went in the direction of the wind, they took advantage. He

also said the Eagles wore down a bit in the second half, mainly

because they had to go to overtime to defeat Laguna Beach in the

morning.

Newport pounced on the Eagles’ lack of energy in the second half.

In the third quarter, Belden stepped up with two goals in a 87-second

span, giving the Sailors breathing room with a 5-2 lead. Belden

finished with three goals, while Conway led with a game-high four,

and Ashling Taylor and Sarah Mutt added one each.

“The first two quarters were slow for us, but in the end we

stepped it up and we got our act together,” Belden said. “They were

pretty tired from the game before. We got ourselves fired up once we

started getting in the goals.”

Belden scored on a counterattack when Mutt found her on the

weakside to open the fourth quarter, giving Newport a 7-3 lead.

Taylor and Mutt each added a goal to cap Newport’s scoring.

The Sailors will face Santa Barbara in a semifinal today at 11:45

a.m. at Newport. Santa Barbara defeated Carlsbad, 12-0, to advance to

the semifinal against Newport.

The Tars cruised past Huntington Beach, 18-2, in the first round

Saturday morning. Taylor led Newport with three goals, while Conway,

Belden, Jessica Ball, Katie Erickson, Leah Robertson and Kally Lucas

scored two goals each. Mutt, Sabrina Cook and Melissa Wheeler added

one goal each.

Newport’s ‘B’ team, which is made up of mostly junior varsity

players, lost its two games, 14-2, to Foothill, and 5-4, to Valhalla,

at CdM.

*--*

Holiday Cup Quarterfinal

Newport Harbor 9, Santa Margarita 5

Score by Quarters

S. Margarita 0 2 1 2 -- 5

Newport 2 1 3 3 -- 9

Santa Margarita -- Anderson 3, Markel 1, McLain 1.

Saves -- O’Connor 10. Newport Harbor -- Conway 4,

Belden 3, Taylor 1, Mutt 1. Saves -- Housepian 3,

Cottam 2.

*--*

*--*

First round

Newport Harbor 18, Huntington Beach 2

Score by Quarters

Huntington 0 0 0 2 -- 2

Newport 8 7 2 1 -- 18

Newport -- Taylor 3, Conway 2, Belden 2, Ball 2,

Erickson 2, Robertson 2, Lucas 2, Cook 1, Wheeler

1, Mutt 1. Saves -- Cottam 5, Housepian 4.

*--*