Newport’s offense missing in championship

SANTA BARBARA — In a physical tournament, Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo coach Bill Barnett said he thought the Sailors had a very good tournament defensively.

But, with all of the fouls, the pushing and the just plain swimming, the Tournament of Champions had become a battle of attrition by the time Newport Harbor played Foothill in the title game on Saturday afternoon at Santa Barbara High.

The trademark Newport Harbor defense was there. It was the offense that was the Sailors’ problem all game long, as they could muster just a single goal in a 4-1 loss.

“They’re as tired as we are,” Barnett said. “I don’t understand sometimes our approach to the game. I thought we could have put a lot more energy into it. But sometimes, that’s the way it is.”

Still, holding the Knights to four goals was an accomplishment that Newport Harbor (13-6) could feel proud of. The Sailors also played solid defense in a 5-3 semifinal victory over Montebello.

“We’ve been working really hard on our defense,” said senior Sarah Roberts, who was named to the all-tournament team along with senior Allyssa Peterson. “In all, I think we all played pretty well. I’m pretty content with getting second place. We can’t always win, and we learn a lot when we lose.”

Peterson, playing two-meter defense, was solid all tournament. She had four steals in the championship game.

“She had a really great tournament,” Barnett said. “She really, really helped us out defensively.”

The defense did temporarily let down in the first quarter against Foothill, when the Knights scored two goals, one on a six-on-five opportunity by Jessica Kutcher, to grab a 2-0 lead.

Foothill scored twice more in the third quarter, extending the lead before Newport Harbor junior Jessica Robinson scored on a six-on-five with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.

After the quarter, Barnett challenged his team, which handed Foothill its only loss of the season in the semifinals of the Holiday Cup on Dec. 30.

“You’ve sat around for three quarters,” he said. “Take it to them.”

But neither team could find the net in the fourth quarter. Barnett said part of the problem was that the Sailors were too tentative due to Foothill’s Amber Oland, the Stanford-bound goalie who recorded 15 saves in the title game.

Those comments were similar to those made by CdM Coach Aaron Chaney, after the Sea Kings lost to Foothill on Jan. 6.

“I just think we need to shoot the ball at the cage,” Barnett said. “We shouldn’t be intimidated. You’ve just got to go out there and put the ball where it belongs.”

Foothill Coach Dave Mikesell agreed that the 6-foot-2 Oland gives his team a lift.

“When you have someone in the cage like we do, you’re able to do a lot defensively,” Mikesell said. “We show a number of different defenses, and my goalie controls it.

But there’s tons of good shooters out there, and Newport beat us once this year.”

Jillian Chiapuzio had two steals in the championship game and won all four sprints that start the quarter for the Sailors. She was also a big factor in the semifinal win over Montebello, when Chiapuzio had four steals.

With the score tied 1-all after the first quarter against Montebello, Marisa Cottam scored from the top with 6:28 left until halftime. The Sailors added to their lead when Roberts scored a six-on-five goal with 4:32 left in the second, but Montebello senior Priscilla Orozco answered two minutes later.

Mimi Bury had an answer, as the Newport Harbor junior scored once in the third quarter and once in the fourth to seal the win.

The Sailors held the Oilers to just one for nine on their six-on-five chances.

“Coach [Barnett] has made us watch videos of the [Sailors] boys, and how good their defense is,” Roberts said. “I think that made an impact on us.”

Morgan Vickers made several nice saves against Montebello, finishing with eight. Two of the saves came after an Oilers shot hit the post, with Vickers blocking a point-blank rebound attempt each time.

“I knew I wanted to win,” Vickers said. “We had lost to Montebello earlier in the season, and we were all pumped after watching the Foothill-CdM game.”

Foothill topped the Sea Kings, 8-7, in sudden death for third place in the game immediately preceding the Newport Harbor-Montebello matchup.

“We wanted our game to be just as great as theirs was,” Vickers said.

And second place in the tournament wasn’t so bad, Roberts said, considering how demanding the competition was.

“I mean, it is called the Tournament of Champions,” Roberts said. “It is really tiring. We tried our hardest.”

Tournament of ChampionsChampionship

Foothill 4, Newport Harbor 1

Score by Quarters

Newport

0

0

1

0

—

1

Foothill

2

0

2

0

—

4

Newport -- Robinson 1. Saves -- Vickers 2.

Foothill -- Umphrey 1, Klug 1, Kutcher 1, McLain 1. Saves -- Oland 15.

Tournament of ChampionsSemifinal

Newport Harbor 5, Montebello 3

Score by Quarters

Montebello

1

1

0

1

—

3

Newport

1

2

1

1

—

5

Montebello -- Urrea 1, Romero 1, P. Orozco 1. Saves -- Connell 3.

Newport -- Bury 2, Cottam 1, Roberts 1, Robinson 1. Saves -- Vickers 8.