Sailors reloaded

First-year Newport Harbor High field hockey coach Piper Phillips will

have a better idea of her team’s capabilities the more she observes

them through scrimmages and early stages of the regular season.

She is still learning about the players and where they fit best on

the field.

But the relative uncertainty stops there.

Phillips, 22, is no stranger to the program and its tradition. She

played three varsity seasons as a Sailor, graduating in 2001 before

attending Santa Clara University. She becomes the program’s third

coach in three seasons, replacing Kristy Cross, who resigned

following one year due to time constraints, said Phillips, who enters

her first varsity coaching job.

Phillips inherits eight returners from a team that reached the

final of the Los Angeles Field Hockey Association Tournament of

Champions, falling, 1-0, to Harvard-Westlake.

Newport lost 14 seniors from last year’s team, but from first

impressions, Phillips believes the nucleus is in place for a deep

playoff run.

“We have a good enough team to win the final game,” Phillips said.

The Sailors have reached the TOC final the past five years and won

the championship in 2003.

Senior co-captain Sasha Grumman returns to lead the midfield after

earning all-tournament honors at TOC last season along with

three-year varsity members Lara Schilling and co-captain Danica

Kalmbach, both forwards.

Phillips is impressed by Schilling’s talents.

“She’s a dynamic player who moves the ball well, with one-on-one

skills to get around the defender,” Phillips said.

Four returners give Newport, which will carry 21 players entering

the regular season, depth throughout the field. Senior Sienna Palmer

provides another scoring threat at forward while senior Jackie Taylor

and junior Rachel Foster help anchor the midfield with Darci

Pennington leading the defense.

Taylor and Foster’s older sisters, Jenny and Lyndsi, each earned

All-TOC honors last fall as seniors.

Senior Ashton Rief returns to lead the defense in front of

first-year goalkeeper Jessica Pizarek, who played junior varsity last

season.

Pizarek replaces Ciara Lawrence, named the Sunset League’s Most

Valuable Goalkeeper as a senior last fall.

The Sailors won their fourth league title in five seasons in 2005.

Eight seniors will jump from the lower levels onto the varsity

unit: forwards Amanda Carver, Nicole Newquist and Emma Osterkamp

along with defenders Lauren Smith, Jenna Riggio, Shawnee Moges and

Kelly Kaban, as well as midfielder Marla Menninger.

Forwards Alexis Conley and Robin Ibbetson, with midfielders Jackie

Sanchez and Hayley Ayres, all juniors add to Newport’s attack

following stints on lower-level teams last fall. Conley, whom

Phillips said also plays soccer, made the jump from the frosh-soph

team.

“Conley’s stick skills are pretty fast. We’re looking to her for

offensive support,” Phillips said.

Phillips said 90 girls tried out for 60 spots for all three teams.

The Sailors have spent the first days of practice conditioning for

the battles ahead.

Those thinking about choosing a sport with less running than, say,

cross country, should reconsider, Phillips said.

“Little do they know that we run a lot in field hockey,” Phillips

said. “We will be ready to go the first game and won’t have to work

into a fitness game.”

Newport opens the regular season at the LAFHA’s Westminster

tournament Sept. 10. The Sailors are slated for four games that day,

Phillips said.

Next comes a Sept. 13 away game against Woodland Hills-based

Louisville.

Newport’s home opener is scheduled Sept. 15 against Bonita at

Harper Community Center in Costa Mesa. The Sailors begin the first of

10 league games against host Fountain Valley Sept. 27.

Phillips said a handful of Newport players attended a camp hosted

by UC Berkeley this summer, where they played on synthetic turf used

by Harvard-Westlake at Moorpark College.

Phillips said the defense should be strong again and believes the

talent at forward could result in increased scoring.

She is ready for the challenge of a position that once seemed

distant.

“I didn’t imagine coaching at Newport Harbor, but coaching is

something I’m excited about,” Phillips said. “It’s more fun to be

back at your old school. Some coaches might be intimidated by [prior]

records, but we have a good team.”

Assisting Phillips this season will be Piper Archibald, who

returns to lead the JV team while Lisa Owad, who played with Phillips

at Newport, will guide the frosh-soph squad.