Tars open league with sweet win

COSTA MESA — Victory tasted a little sweeter for the Newport Harbor High field hockey team Tuesday, as it came against the Edison Chargers, the Sailors’ rival.

After a scoreless first half, Shannon Rohan and Brooke Nelson scored a goal each to help Harbor beat Edison, 2-0, in the Sailors’ Sunset League opener at Harper Community Center.

“They’re one of our main rival schools,” Claire Josephson said about Edison. “So we’re pretty glad we came out on top.”

And the Sailors (7-2-1) did it without senior captain Samantha Hill, who was out sick with an upper respiratory problem.

The game started slow, with both teams trading off possessions and slapping sticks in the middle of the field.

Harbor showed a little more persistence in attacking and created a couple of opportunities to score, but mishandled passes negated any chances.

The score at halftime was exactly as it was at the beginning of the game, both teams left scoreless.

But the differences after halftime were the fast breaks, the speed of Newport Harbor and the ball and stick control that the Sailors seemed to fix during the break.

Midway through the second half, the Sailors finally broke the scoreless tie with a goal from Rohan, putting them up, 1-0.

Rohan scored when Edison’s goalkeeper continued to pressure the Harbor offense, charging the ball and leaving the goal open.

Congestion in the middle allowed Rohan to push the ball past the keeper and into the cage giving Newport Harbor the lead.

The Sailors continued to create scoring chances off of their outlet passes and fast breaks.

“We played it really fast and were spreading it really wide,” Rohan said. “We seemed to pass better.”

And off of those good passes seemed to come fast breaks and one-on-one opportunities with the keeper.

Nelson scored Newport Harbor’s second goal on a set up just like this.

Nelson received an impressive pass from Claire Layton that put her face to face with the charging Edison keeper.

Nelson easily put the ball in the goal for the 2-0 lead.

“They are starting to peak and know what winning feels like,” Newport Harbor Coach Devon Kelly. “They are starting to gel. It’s fun to see them scrum in the middle and want to score.”

The Sailors showed respect for their rivalry in the win over Edison, knowing that they are a good team and feeling like they were evenly matched.

But there must be a winner and there must be reasons as to why the game turned out the way it did.

“I feel like we dominated the field and were more aggressive,” Josephson said. “That’s what it takes to win.”

ANDREW SNYDER may be reached at (714) 966-4616.