Newport victory striking

Barry Faulkner

The only collective bargaining at issue with these hockey players

might have been which compact disc to pop into the sideline boom box.

Indeed, while the greatest ice hockey players in the world remain

figuratively on ice due to NHL labor-management negotiations, the

Newport Harbor High field hockey team showed just how much fun

peppering a goal could be Thursday afternoon at the Harper Community

Center.

The Sailors thoroughly dominated visiting Westminster to earn a

5-0 nonleague victory, improving to 3-0-1 in complete matches this

season. The Tars played four 25-minute tournament contests Saturday

that won’t count on their record.

The 3-0-1 start ups the defending Tournament of Champions and

Sunset League title holders’ record to 41-1-1 since falling in the

TOC final in 2001.

“I thought it was a great game,” said Newport Harbor first-year

coach Kristy Cross. “I thought we had some nice sequences.”

The initial sequences for the Sailors ended in frustration, as the

Lions (0-3) weathered a barrage of early shots to keep things

scoreless the first 20 minutes.

But senior Julia Bernay scored with 9:27 left in the 30-minute

first half and the Sailors added three more goals before intermission

let the visitors catch their breath.

Some deft passing by senior Katie Kelly, Bernay and sophomore

Rachel Foster led to a goal by senior Laura Vassar with just more

than three minutes to play in the half and junior Sienna Palmer

converted a well-placed cross from Bernay into a 3-0 halftime lead

about a minute later.

The Sailors, who outshot the Lions, 19-0, in the first half,

continued their dominance throughout, despite substituting liberally

with all 22 available players.

Senior Jenny Taylor set up another goal early in the shortened

20-minute second half, driving a ball through the middle of the

Westminster defense that junior Lara Schilling appeared only to

redirect past Westminster goalie Alexis McConnell to add to the lead.

Kelly finalized the scoring with a rapid shot from about 10 yards

out, as junior Sasha Grumman collected the assist.

The Sailors finished with a 28-0 advantage in shots and have now

outscored opponents, 11-1 this season.

Newport goalie Ciera Lawrence collected the shutout, despite not

having to provide much more than encouragement for a Sailor lineup

that rarely saw Westminster advance the ball past midfield.

Taylor, one of five returners from last year’s squad and a

four-year varsity performer who is one of the Sailors’ captains, was

in the center of things all game for the winners.

Senior Lyndsi Foster, and senior Reese Simmons, another four-year

varsity veteran, were also obvious Sailor standouts.

Junior Danica Kalmbach was another catalyst for the winners, whose

starting back line of senior Kirstie Lane, junior Jackie Taylor and

Ashton Rief also performed well when called upon.

“It’s a nice problem to have,” Cross said of the lack of offensive

pressure put on by Westminster. “From what I’ve heard [the Lions are]

much-improved from what they have been. We are trying to work on

staying spread out on offense, but that was a little hard to do when

the ball was right in front of their goal. It sometimes looked like a

clump of people around the ball.”

Cross was particularly pleased with her team’s consistently

unselfish play, which seemed to flow regardless of personnel

combinations.

“A lot of our girls have been playing together since they were

freshmen,” Cross said. “They work hard and they all encourage team

unity.”