Winning is Newport’s best response

Sailors win emotionally charged game against El Toro, setting up Division I semifinal showdown with Corona del Mar.The CIF Southern Section didn’t do the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team any favors by putting El Toro in its bracket.

Not only did the teams end up meeting for the fourth time this season, but it was the second time they had met since Newport Harbor defender Clinton Jorth sustained multiple facial fractures in an Oct. 25 game against the Chargers.

The fourth meeting proved to be just like the previous three in one significant way.

The Sailors shrugged off a shaky start and rallied to defeat El Toro, 9-7, in a Division I quarterfinal Tuesday at El Toro. In a tension-filled game that had one minor incident, Newport Harbor advanced to the Division I semifinals, where it will face Back Bay rival Corona del Mar.

The semifinal will be held Friday afternoon at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center at Irvine High.

“This was obviously an adverse situation after what happened,” Newport Harbor Coach Jason Lynch said. “Playing without one of our top players in front of a hostile crowd.”

Newport looked out of sync early and El Toro took advantage. The Chargers got out to a 4-1 lead after Spencer White spun around the Sailors’ Brett Auer and scored from point blank range with 3:12 left in the second quarter.

“We had a poor start -- I don’t know why,” Lynch said. “We didn’t take them lightly. But the guys didn’t lose their composure at all when we were down, 4-1, and all the calls were going against us.”

Left-hander Telford Cottam followed a goal by teammate Blake Hockenbury with a long lob from half the length of the pool at the halftime buzzer to pull Newport to within 4-3.

The score remained close until midway through the final period. With the score tied, 6-6, the Sailors scored their first power play goal with 3:36 left in when Cottam found the back of the net off a pass from Auer. Cottam’s goal gave Newport its first lead of the game at 7-6.

“That was a really big spark for us,” Clay Jorth said.

Thirty-six seconds later, Auer pump-faked then lobbed a shot that went over the head of El Toro goalkeeper Daryn Hill and into the net.

After Newport goalie Bryce McClain made an arm save on a point-blank shot by Derrek Danna, El Toro’s Spencer White was called for his third exclusion and was done for the day. Kyle Sherman batted in a goal on the ensuing power play to give Newport a 9-6 lead with 2:13 left in regulation.

“We really focused on coming out calm and relaxed, but it took us some time to get into our game,” Jorth said. “I think we just kind of gathered ourselves after falling behind.”

Newport was intent on keeping its composure after the Oct. 25 game against El Toro, when White kicked Newport Harbor’s Clinton Jorth in the face and put him out of action for the season. El Toro officials said it was not intentional, though Newport coaches and parents strongly disagreed.

Clinton Jorth had successful surgery Friday night to repair multiple facial fractures, his mother, Maggie Jorth, said.

Newport played El Toro the following week in the TruWest Memorial Cup Invitational in San Jose -- winning 16-11 -- but El Toro held White out of the game.

White was back in the water for Tuesday’s match. With 3:12 left in the third quarter, White and Clay Jorth were battling for the ball in the middle of the pool when they got tangled up and wrestled around briefly. El Toro’s Petar Solomon scored on a breakaway, and then a double exclusion was called on Jorth and White.

“It was a very emotional game,” Jorth said. “After what happened to my brother’s face and the angst I have for some of their players, I knew I had to keep my cool.

“I thought it was a pretty aggressive foul on his part. But I knew my brother would not want me to retaliate. If I did, it could have been the end to our season. There’s no point in getting overly aggressive.”

El Toro was just 2 for 7 on the power play, including 0 for 4 in the second half. Newport was 2 for 3 on the power play in the second half after going 0 for 1 in the first half.

Nearly lost in the hubbub was the fact that No. 3-seeded Newport Harbor advanced to the semifinals. The Sailors were eliminated in the quarterfinals the last three years.

“It’s great to get out of the quarters -- it’s the first time for me,” Jorth said.

Newport Harbor (22-5) takes on Corona del Mar -- which beat Harvard-Westlake in the quarterfinals Tuesday -- in the semifinals. It will be the first meeting between the two this season, though they did scrimmage earlier this year.”It’ll be exciting -- a little Battle of the Bay,” Lynch said.

CIF Southern Section Division I Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Newport Harbor 9, El Toro 7

Score by Quarters