Nix with stick comes through

COSTA MESA — For much of the game, the visiting Huntington Beach High Oilers put a scare into Newport Harbor that seemed appropriate for the Halloween afternoon contest at Harper Community Center.

There were no tricks about senior forward Jessie Nix’s rebound goal. But the treat was that the Sailors field hockey team lived to see another day.

Nix broke a scoreless tie with just 30 seconds left in regulation, lifting Newport Harbor (20-3-3) to a 1-0 win in the first round of the Los Angeles Field Hockey Assn. Tournament of Champions.

The Sailors move on to play Harvard-Westlake on Thursday in the tournament semifinals. The site of the game will be determined today by a coin flip.

Newport Harbor, which hasn’t lost in 15 games, was on defense much of the day against Huntington Beach. But with 12:48 left in the second half, Coach Devon Kelly called timeout.

“I think [Huntington Beach] was frustrated,” Kelly said. “They started to get tired, and we started dominating offensively. I think we wore them down. Really, we should have scored more than one goal.”

But Nix’s rebound would suffice. The goal came off Jackie Sanchez’s penalty corner. Rachel Foster had the initial shot, which went past the goalie but was blocked by an Oilers defender.

With several Sailors swarming the goal, the ball bounced to Nix, who knew just what to do with it.

“We wanted it,” said Nix, one of 14 Newport Harbor seniors. “It was going to be our last game if we didn’t win. We had to win.”

Newport Harbor had its share of chances in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Sailors had three consecutive corners, and Robin Ibbetson’s shot on the second one trickled just wide.

Huntington Beach, which saw Newport defender Claire Josephson go out after taking a stick to the knee, soon became the aggressors. Midway though the first half, a hard shot from the Oilers’ Bonnie Sorensen went just wide left.

With 10 minutes left before halftime, Sailors goalie Jessica Pizarek had to slide to make a stop off a Huntington Beach corner.

Pizarek had six saves in the game.

“I was very concerned about this first-round game,” Kelly said. “Huntington Beach is a team with great stick skills.”

Newport Harbor had played the Oilers twice already this season, going 1-0-1, but scoring just a single goal in the two games combined.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Nix said. “It was one of our toughest, definitely.”

Pizarek had to make another nice save with 14:30 left in the game, a kick save on a penalty corner shot. And Hayley Ayres made a nice stop in front of the goal on a long free hit by Sorensen.

But after Kelly’s timeout, it was the Sailors who became the aggressors. They earned eight corners in the last eight minutes of the game, the last one producing the game-winning goal.

“That’s how it is for every game,” Foster said. “About halfway through, we get pumped and come together.”

And, the Sailors didn’t want to go into a seven-on-seven sudden-death overtime against speedy Huntington Beach.

“I didn’t really want it to go to seven-on-seven at the end,” said Newport Harbor defender Annabelle Storch, who stopped her share of Oilers attacks. “I was just trying to keep the ball up in the other half of the field, and play hard.”

Sophomore Shannon Rohan also made an impact for the Sailors, doing well at pushing the ball up the field.

“She did a nice job of speeding the game up,” Kelly said. “She was cutting off passes and getting where she should be really well.”

Newport Harbor is now one game away from the championship game, to be played at Marina High on Saturday at 3 p.m.

The Sailors, who won the 2003 Tournament of Champions, have lost in the championship game each of the past two years.

In their immediate way is Harvard-Westlake, who tied with the Sailors, 1-1, on the road on Sept. 15.

“We’re waiting for our game on Saturday, the championship game,” Foster said. “Hopefully, we’ll be there.”