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Steve Virgen

There were three primary goals the Newport Harbor High girls water

polo team made before the season began.

Now there are two.

The Sailors became the Sea View League champions with a 6-2

victory over visiting Woodbridge Wednesday. They also want to be the

No. 1 seed in the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs and that

is expected to come about, which leaves their final goal -- to win

the CIF title.

That will definitely be a challenge with four-time defending

champion Foothill seeking to exact revenge for losing the league

title to the Sailors. Newport Harbor’s quest for the CIF championship

could be even more difficult as senior Carolyn Conway is battling the

flu.

The Sailors’ leading goal scorer (72) said she had a 102

temperature Wednesday and she continually coughed after the game. She

scored one goal, part of a 3-0 first-quarter run.

Newport Harbor (22-3, 5-0 in league) answered a 1-0 deficit with three goals in three minutes in that first quarter. That was enough

as the Sailors’ defense held the Warriors (20-5, 3-2) scoreless in

the second and third quarters.

“We have to play better than we did [Wednesday] or we are not

going very far,” Newport Coach Bill Barnett said.

Junior Melissa Wheeler got things started for the Sailors when she

grabbed junior Anne Belden’s shot that had deflected off the post and

put it in. Wheeler’s goal came on a six-on-five opportunity with 4:04

left, 86 seconds after Woodbridge scored the game’s first goal.

Conway scored on a counterattack to give the Sailors a 2-1 lead.

Junior Ashling Taylor started the counterattack with a steal. She

flipped the ball back to the goalie, Kim Housepian, who threw the

lead pass to Belden, and Belden assisted Conway.

With 63 seconds left in the first, senior Jessica Ball gave

Newport a 3-1 lead, scoring at four meters on a shot that the goalie,

Katherine Anderson, got a hand on.

The Sailors received goals from senior Katie Erickson, Ball and

Taylor for a 6-1 lead, before Woodbridge got on the scoreboard again.

After going 22 minutes, 56 seconds without a goal, Woodbridge ended

the drought when senior Jackie Gauthier, bound for Stanford, made

good on a counterattack with 2:34 left in the game.

Gauthier, who leads Woodbridge with 122 goals this season, but

found it difficult to score against Newport and Ball, who was

guarding the Warriors’ senior.

Newport goalies Terin Cottam (four saves) and Kim Housepian

(three) anchored the defense. Anderson was impressive for the

Warriors, recording eight saves, including a stop on a four-meter

penalty shot. Ball and Belden contributed five steals each, helping

the Sailors go undefeated in the Sea View League.

Heading into league action, Newport knew Foothill and Woodbridge

would be its toughest opponents. The Sailors had to face Foothill in

the first league game and won, 10-9, in overtime, ending the Knights’

49-game winning streak.

“I thought we progressed [throughout the season],” Barnett said.

“But we had to be good early because we had Foothill.”

*--*

Sea View League

Newport Harbor 6, Woodbridge 2

Score by Quarters

Woodbridge 1 0 0 1 -- 2

Newport 3 1 1 1 -- 6

Woodbridge -- Briggs 1, Gauthier 1. Saves --

Anderson 8. Newport -- Ball 2, Wheeler 1,

Conway 1, Erickson 1, Taylor 1. Saves -- Cottam

4, Housepian 3.

*--*