Sailors gobble up 7-4 win

NEWPORT BEACH — When Newport Harbor High annually hosts Coronado in a night water polo match, the Sailors invite the Islanders to a postgame meal.

But Newport Harbor started feasting in the second half on Saturday, scoring six second-half goals in a 7-4 nonleague win.

The Sailors’ Collin Sherman scored all three of his goals in the second half, when Newport Harbor (2-0) turned a 1-1 halftime deadlock into its three-goal victory.

“The defense was great and the conditioning, especially in the third quarter, was the difference,” Sailors Coach Jason Lynch said. “We take a lot of pride in our conditioning, and derive a lot of confidence from that. That’s definitely our strength.”

Blake Hockenbury scored the game’s first goal with 1:38 left in the first quarter, on a pass across the goal from Clinton Jorth.

But Coronado’s Jacob Smith — who scored three of his team’s four goals — responded with just more than three minutes left in the half, when his long shot skipped in.

Lynch said his team started out a bit tentative in the first half.

“The kids weren’t reading the situations,” Lynch said. “They were rushing things, rushing passes and rushing shots. But we’re young, and we’re working on that. It’s a win, and we’ll take it.”

Newport came back to dominate the third quarter against Coronado, which advanced to the CIF San Diego Section Division II title game last season.

Sherman scored on a nice touch pass from Riley Hayes, giving the Tars the lead. And, after Smith scored to tie it again, Nick Yeager’s goal from the right side gave Newport Harbor a 3-2 lead.

“We scrimmaged them a couple of times during the summer, so we know them pretty well,” Yeager said. “It was cool to actually play a real game against them. I love playing against teams from San Diego and [Northern California], teams from places other than Orange County.”

Hockenbury scored again with just less than three minutes left in the third, stealing the ball, sprinting down and lofting a shot over the Coronado goalie for a 4-2 lead.

Jorth also scored off a steal with just 30 seconds left in the quarter, for a 5-2 cushion.

But Coronado’s Smith added his third long goal just six seconds later, narrowing the lead.

Lynch said his team is still adjusting to a new high school rule that direct shots may be taken after fouls from more than five meters out. The old rule was that shots could only be taken after fouls from more than seven meters out.

But it didn’t matter, as Sherman added two more goals early in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.

Nonleague

Newport Harbor 7, Coronado 4

Score by Quarters

Coronado

0

1

2

1

—

4

Newport 1

0

4

2

— 7

Coronado -- Smith 3, Clapper 1. Saves -- Pokorny 10.

Newport Harbor -- Sherman 3, Hockenbury 2, Yeager 1, Jorth 1. Saves -- Christian 7, McLain 7.