Tars’ Sherman scores OT game-winner

NEWPORT BEACH — With just a second left in regulation on Wednesday, Los Alamitos High’s David Angstadt scored a game-tying goal.

The Los Alamitos sideline erupted and Newport Harbor was stunned — but only momentarily. The Sailors felt they had some unfinished business.

“We were just as pumped,” Collin Sherman said. “We were so mad they scored that shot, so we were ready to go after that.”

Sherman, a junior, has been ready to go a lot lately.

He scored his second game-winning goal in as many weeks, this time in the second three-minute overtime, lifting the Sailors to a 4-3 win over Los Alamitos in a battle of the Sunset League’s last two undefeated teams.

The Tars got by Esperanza on Oct. 11, 7-6, when Sherman scored a sudden-death overtime goal.

With two league games remaining, Newport Harbor (13-4, 3-0 in league) now has the inside track for the Sunset League title.

But the Sailors had to regroup quickly after Angstadt’s shocker for Los Alamitos (11-8, 2-1).

“I was kind of mad,” Sailors goalie Bryce McLain said. “But, I saw my brother (Nathan) standing behind the cage and he just said, ‘Forget about it.’ I just let it go and got ready for overtime.”

Sherman scored the winner on the Sailors’ first possession of the second overtime with 2:36 left. Holding the ball on the top, he faked several times before firing a shot into the left-hand corner.

“I saw my guy was a little off me, and I faked it cross-cage,” Sherman said. “It just felt right.”

The goal stood up when the lob shot of Los Alamitos’ Forrest Watkins was blocked by McLain at the final buzzer.

That ended a somewhat frustrating game for Newport Coach Jason Lynch, who felt his team dominated in the pool if not always on the scoreboard.

“The whole time, we felt confident and in control,” Lynch said. “We controlled their offense and played great defense all game.”

The Sailors took a 1-0 lead at 3:06 of the first quarter, when Clinton Jorth’s long, skipping shot went past Los Alamitos goalie Michael Delaney.

Los Alamitos tied it just over two minutes later on Jeffrey Tsim’s goal, and the teams took the 1-1 tie into halftime.

But Newport Harbor scored again in the third quarter. That was when Blake Hockenbury put it in on a pass from Brandon Parole.

And, after Hockenbury scored again at 6:29 of the fourth quarter, the Sailors had a seemingly safe 3-1 lead.

“We really just played team defense,” Hockenbury said. “We were watching them in two meters and pressing hard, making sure to pressure them. Thankfully, it forced some errors.”

But Los Alamitos kept firing.

The Griffins scored a six-on-five goal with under two minutes left in the game, then took advantage of a wild closing sequence to regulation.

The win seemed secure for Newport Harbor when Sherman stole the ball from Watkins in front of the goal with under 20 seconds left.

But the Griffins eventually stole it back, finding Angstadt on a long goal with just over a second left.

“In hindsight, I should have called a timeout,” Lynch said. “I was sending some guys down, because the worst thing you want to do is just stand in front of the goal where they can steal the ball. We couldn’t get a foul, and it got turned over and then [Los Alamitos] had open guys in front of the goal. It was tough.”

McLain stopped Angstadt’s hard shot into his chest with 50 seconds left in the second overtime.

However, a Newport Harbor shot-clock violation gave Los Alamitos the ball with 13 seconds left, and in need of a goal.

Griffins goalie Michael Delaney held the ball until nine seconds remained. Los Alamitos was unable to get a hard shot off before the final buzzer.

“Defense has been carrying us the whole year,” Lynch said. “We’ve held most teams under five goals, and some good teams.”

Newport Harbor has now beaten the two teams that the Sailors consider their top Sunset League competition — Los Alamitos and Esperanza.

“I don’t think either one of them should have been that close,” Lynch said. “But we’re comfortable with where we’re at. We’ve beaten the top two teams.”

The Sailors finish up league play against Edison on Oct. 25 and Marina on Nov. 1.

“We knew after beating Esperanza last week that this was our last huge, huge game we would have to play,” McLain said about facing Los Alamitos. “We got a good scouting report, watched a lot of tape and came into the game really pumped up.”

The Sailors will most likely have another intense game on Saturday. They will play at Corona del Mar High for a Back Bay rivalry game at 6 p.m.

Sunset League

Newport Harbor 4,

Los Alamitos 3 (OT)

Score by Periods

Newport 1 0 1 1 0 1 — 4 Los Alamitos 1 0 0 2 0 0 — 3

Newport Harbor -- Hockenbury 2, Jorth 1, Sherman 1. Saves -- McLain 16.

Los Alamitos -- Tsim 2, Angstadt 1. Saves -- Delaney 13.