Tars are awake too late

Spurts of intensity not enough for the Sailors to get past Foothill in a Sea View League game on Wednesday.NEWPORT BEACH -- The Newport Harbor High boys’ soccer team won twice as many games in December (six) as it did all of last season (three). But the Sailors will have to be more consistent with their intensity if they are going to have a strong showing in the Sea View League.

The Sailors showed spurts of brilliance against Foothill, but their lulls contributed to a 2-1 loss Wednesday night in a Sea View League game.

What also contributed to the loss in a big way was a standout play by Foothill’s Brian Bionchetti. With the score tied, 1-1, and five minutes left in regulation time, the Foothill forward made a run down the left side on a counterattack and cut across the top of the Newport Harbor 18-yard box. He then sent a low shot into the corner of the net, just beyond the diving reach of goalkeeper Carson Hedrick for what turned out to be the game-winner.

“It was simply a piece of individual brilliance that won it for us,” Foothill Coach Barry Turner said.

Newport Harbor (6-6, 0-2) started slow and let Foothill take charge of the game early. Foothill’s Garr Persson nearly scored from 20 yards out in the opening minutes, but his liner hit the post. The Knights kept the pressure on and broke through when Eric Roman sent a cross to John Joslin, who scored on a header midway through the first half to give Foothill a 1-0 lead.

“We started well and could have been up 2-0,” Turner said. “But they came back and made it scary.”

“We don’t play until the second half,” Newport Harbor Coach Ryan Hernandez said. “It’s like we have to be down to play well.”

The goal seemed to serve as a wake-up call for the Sailors. Before the end of the half, Trafford Hill flicked Will Reichenstein’s throw-in to Isai Viveros in the box, but his shot sailed over the net. Then, Garrett Heiser’s leaping header off of Clayton Heiser’s throw-in required a diving save by Foothill goalkeeper Eric Canele.

The Knights dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half, but Hedrick made two big saves to keep his team in the game.

Soon after, the Sailors turned on the intensity. In the 60th minute, Clayton Heiser sent a cross to Hill in the box from 40 yards out. Hill passed the ball to Garrett Heiser, who one-timed it just inside the far post past the diving Canele to tie the score, 1-1.

Travis Mayfield, who turned up the defensive intensity a little too much -- according to the referee -- earned his second yellow card with 15 minutes left in regulation time and had to watch the rest of the game from the sideline.

Garrett Heiser had another chance deep in the box, but his shot was saved as Will Trujillo was dragged down right next to him by a Foothill defender. There was no call on the play. Soon after, Bionchetti scored the game-winner.

“We’ve lost a lot of games this way, so it’s good to see it go the other way,” said Turner, whose Foothill squad improved to 6-8-1 overall and 1-0-1 in the Sea View League.

Newport Harbor is left to pick up the pieces and aim for a more consistent effort.

“We’re at the bottom of the league now,” Hernandez said. “We’ve got to figure something out. We can beat all of these teams, we just haven’t shown it.”

The Sailors try to get back on track when take on Aliso Niguel on Friday at Newport Harbor.

Sea View League

Foothill 2, Newport Harbor 1

Score by Halves