Newport Harbor shrugs off Wilson

Bryce Alderton

The Long Beach Wilson girls water polo team threw several tests at

visiting Newport Harbor in a nonleague tussle Friday afternoon at

Belmont Plaza.

But the Sailors had an answer for seemingly everything the Bruins

mustered.

That answer was often Ashling Taylor.

The senior two-meter standout shrugged off defenders, fought her

way inside and scored nine goals to power the Sailors to a

hard-fought, 12-9 victory over the Bruins.

Newport (16-1), the top-ranked team in CIF Southern Section

Division I, never trailed but didn’t lead by more than three goals as

the Bruins (9-9) remained within striking distance with less than

three minutes left in the contest.

Lauren Silver scored her fifth of six goals from 10 meters to

bring the Bruins within 10-8 with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left.

But Taylor, who scored three times in the fourth quarter to go

with three periods of two goals apiece, answered 16 seconds later after shrugging off a defender in set to make it 11-8.

Silver tallied her sixth score on a four-meter penalty shot with

1:14 showing, but Taylor drew an ejection on the Sailors’ ensuing

possession. Just seconds ticked off the clock on Newport’s power play

before Taylor found the back of net for the ninth time to cap the

game’s scoring, helping the Sailors secure their third straight

victory.

“Just get the ball to Ashling,” Newport Coach Bill Barnett said

when asked about the team’s strategy during a few anxious moments.

“[Taylor] is capable of a performance like that almost every

game.”

Taylor laughed when asked if she had ever scored nine goals in a

game.

“Not against a good team like that,” Taylor said. “We knew [the

Bruins] were good and had the potential to beat us.

“In practice, Coach Barnett yells a lot about my form and I guess

I kind of dialed in and did what he was telling me.”

Barnett agreed the Bruins, ranked fourth in CIF Division I, are

better than their record indicates and said the Sailors’ strong start

at the beginning of each quarter paid dividends.

Newport scored the first goal for either team in every quarter,

including the initial two of the second and third periods.

The Sailors led, 5-2, after Taylor converted one of Kally Lucas’

three assists for her fourth goal with 3:45 left in the first half.

But Silver cut the deficit to 5-4 with two goals to close the

half, including a four-meter penalty shot with seven seconds left.

Taylor gave the Sailors a 6-4 lead to open third-quarter scoring

after taking a pass from Lauren Laidlaw, but Wilson appeared to cut

the lead to one on the ensuing possession.

Referees whistled a Newport foul inside seven meters and Silver

promptly took the ball and fired it into the cage for an apparent

goal. But referees ruled Silver was outside seven meters when she

fired the shot, nullifying the would-be score.

The Bruins retained the 6-on-5 advantage, but overshot the cage.

Junior Leah Robertson then sprinted down the wing and scored on the

counterattack to put the Sailors back up by three goals.

Taylor said the Sailors’ counterattack made the difference in

allowing the team to run its offense and defense.

“The counterattack is our game,” Taylor said. “I can’t describe

how fast we get back, but we do.”

Newport went 2 of 3 on the player-advantage while the Bruins went

3 of 6, with two penalty conversions.

Anne Belden (three assists) and Lucas each scored once while

Melissa Wheeler, Robertson, Laidlaw and Taylor added one assist

apiece.

Kendal Nelson made six saves in goal while Elizabeth Layton

stopped seven shots for the Tars.

Nonleague

Newport Harbor 12,

Long Beach Wilson 9

Score by Quarters

*--*

Newport 3 2 3 4 -- 12

L.B. Wilson 2 2 1 4 -- 9

*--*

Newport -- Taylor 9, Belden 1, Lucas 1, Robertson 1. Saves --

Nelson 6, Layton 3.

L.B. Wilson -- Silver 6, Al. Lamb 2, Perez 1. Saves -- Hardy 7.