Sailors’ chip off ‘ol block scores three

NEWPORT BEACH — Jillian Chiapuzio is affectionately known as “Chip” by her teammates.

On Friday afternoon in the Holiday Cup quarterfinals against Poway, the Newport Harbor High senior chipped in big-time for the Sailors.

She scored a team-high three goals, two of them on five-meter penalty shots. She finished with an assist. She also recorded two steals and played good defense on Poway’s Lauren Orth, the Titans’ top scorer.

And, in the end, the Sailors earned a 9-6 win over Poway and a berth in the tournament semifinals, where they’ll play No. 1 seed Foothill today at 10:40 a.m. at Newport Harbor High.

The championship game is at 4:05 p.m., also at Newport Harbor High, with the third-place game preceding it at 3 p.m.

It was the defensive effort where the Sailors clamped down against Poway, holding the Titans to just a single goal in the second and third quarters combined as Newport Harbor took control.

“That’s what we concentrate on,” Chiapuzio said. “A good defense makes a good offense, is what coach always says. If they can’t shoot, then they can’t score. I think we had good defense this game.”

Mimi Bury scored the Sailors’ first goal with 5:01 left in the first quarter, but Liz Cunningham answered back on Poway’s next possession.

Sarah Roberts then drew a five-meter penalty shot for Newport Harbor, which Chiapuzio converted to give the Sailors a 2-1 lead. But Cunningham again answered for the defending CIF San Diego Section Division I champions, scoring a six-on-five goal to knot the score at 2-all with 2:52 left in the quarter.

“We knew that it was going to be a tough game, because they won CIF in their area,” Chiapuzio said. “We just had to come out hard.”

Newport soon took control of the game. Roberts drew another five-meter penalty that Chiapuzio scored. Then, Chiapuzio got a steal and swam the length of the pool, beating the goalie in the upper-right corner for a 4-2 lead that the Sailors took into halftime.

They had to settle for the two-goal advantage, as three successive shots — by Roberts, Allyssa Peterson and Chiapuzio — hit off the left post in the waning moments of the first half.

“In the end, I thought we played pretty good defense, so that helped,” Newport Harbor Coach Bill Barnett said. “But I thought we missed a lot of opportunities, too, offensively.”

Peterson got a steal and a subsequent goal to give the Sailors a 5-2 lead with 5:18 left in the third, then Roberts’ backhanded goal went past the seemingly surprised Poway goalie for a 6-2 advantage.

“We had good defense, and we had pretty good offense too,” said Peterson, who showed such individually with two goals and three steals. “We were getting our shots in.”

The teams traded goals the rest of the way, with Peterson, Jessica Robinson and Kaleigh Gilchrist adding goals. Poway could never get closer than three goals, also thanks to stellar goaltending by Morgan Vickers (nine saves).

Barnett said he expects his team to be ready for Foothill, also the No. 1-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division I. The Sailors will be trying to avenge a 5-2 loss in their season opener on Dec. 12.

“Playing Foothill is always a big challenge,” he said. “The effort will be there, I’m sure of it.”

Earlier Friday, Newport Harbor shut out Santa Ynez in the tournament’s first round, 15-0, behind four goals from Roberts and two from Marisa Cottam.

Holiday Cup

Quarterfinal

Newport Harbor 9, Poway 6

Score by Quarters

Poway 2 0 1 3 — 6 Newport 2 2 2 3 — 9

Poway -- Orth 3, Cunningham 2, Gerrity 1. Saves -- Flees 8.

Newport -- Chiapuzio 3, Peterson 2, Bury 1, Roberts 1, Robinson 1, Gilchrist 1. Saves -- Vickers 9.

Holiday Cup

First round

Newport Harbor 15,

Santa Ynez 0

Score by Quarters

Santa Ynez 0 0 0 0 — 0 Newport 8 3 1 3 — 15

Newport -- Roberts 4, Cottam 2, Chiapuzio 2, Ki. Morrison 2, Kleppert 2, Wheeler 1, Holly 1, Martin 1. Saves -- Miner 7, Vickers 6.