Revenge sweet for Sailors

COSTA MESA — The Newport Harbor High field hockey team came out pumped up for Thursday’s game against Bonita at Harper Community Center.

The Bearcats handed the Sailors their only Sunset League loss, 1-0, on Sept. 26. And, despite the fact that Newport Harbor beat Bonita twice at the Orange County Invitational, the Sailors knew that the Bearcats remained a tough team.

“We knew that they were coming out here to win again,” Newport’s Jessie Nix said.

But Nix, a senior, stole the show, scoring two goals early in the first half as the Sailors (17-3-3, 5-1 in league) won, 2-0.

Bonita dropped to 2-4 in league.

Nix’s first goal came after a scuffle in front of the Bonita net just four minutes into the game. The ball came directly to Nix, who shot it over Bonita goalie Kristine Leonard’s shoulder and into the net.

Six minutes later, Nix scored from the top of the circle after a penalty corner.

“We had the momentum after those two goals,” Nix said. “It helped our confidence. Bonita came back hard, but the defense really held strong and played well.”

The Bearcats, from La Verne, held the ball for much of the rest of the first half, but produced few real goal-scoring opportunities thanks to solid play from Newport Harbor senior defenders Clea O’Kieffe, Annabelle Storch and Lauren Nordstrom.

“I think we were just so driven to not give them a goal,” O’Kieffe said. “Our midfielders were giving us a lot of help and coming back, and everyone was marking up.”

Eight minutes into the second half, Bonita’s Natalie Boxall nearly stuck in a bouncing ball at the near post.

But Newport Harbor held tight for the shutout.

“It was really nice,” Sailors Coach Devon Kelly said. “We played the rest of the game like it was a 0-0 game. I just wanted to score first and score early, and we did. We seem to play a lot better after we score.”

Kelly said she moved sophomore Shannon Rohan and junior Katy Storch into the midfield in the second half, “to make the middle of the field a little faster.”

“Even though we’re in the heat of the season, we’re still making changes,” Kelly said. “[Bonita’s] a well-coached team and their girls are nice field hockey players. Fortunately, we had home-field advantage.”

The game got testy late. With eight minutes left in the game, the referee gave a green card — effectively a warning — to all players from both teams, telling them not to question any more calls.

With under four minutes left in the game, Bonita had its best chance to score. O’Kieffe, standing directly in front of her goal, raised her stick up to eye level to deflect a shot from Boxall.

“I played softball for nine years,” O’Kieffe said. “That was just reflex for me.”

But it was also an illegal play, and gave Bonita a one-on-one penalty stroke. However, Newport Harbor goalie Jessica Pizarek made a kick save on the shot of Bonita’s Carina Bustos.

“That was huge,” O’Kieffe said. “It’s just so nerve-wracking when it’s one on one. That really gave us momentum to get through the last few minutes, when Jessica made that save.”

Newport Harbor, which came into the game tied for first in league with Glendora, has two weeks remaining in its regular season. The Sailors play host to Edison on Tuesday — their last home game — and travel to Glendora on Thursday.

“We’ve really progressed,” Nix said. “The communication has definitely improved over the past couple of weeks.”