Newport Harbor advances

IRVINE — Nobody needed to remind the Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team that its last loss of the season was to Long Beach Wilson.

Coming into Wednesday night’s CIF Southern Section Division I semifinal at Irvine High, that loss to the Bruins was also the only loss that the Sailors hadn’t avenged.

So, after 28 minutes of water polo where Newport Harbor’s defense smothered Long Beach Wilson, scoring chances weren’t the only thing erased.

“We have a clean slate now,” Sailors senior Mimi Bury said after her team won, 5-3, to earn a date with Back Bay rival Corona del Mar in the Division I final Saturday at 7 p.m.

The top-seeded Tars (27-3) did it with their calling card, their defense. After Wilson senior Heather McKeon beat the shot-clock buzzer to score the game’s first goal just over a minute in, the Bruins (23-7) could find the back of the net just twice more.

Seniors Amanda Simons and Elizabeth Wheeler, along with sophomore Kate Klippert, teamed up to keep USC-bound Wilson senior standout Kendall Wootten scoreless.

“They all did a really good job against her,” Newport Harbor Coach Bill Barnett said.

And Newport Harbor gave up no counterattack goals, a Wilson specialty.

“We just played good defense,” Simons said. “We knew how they played, so we strategized and worked hard. We wanted it.”

Simons said the good defense was one of the areas which Newport Harbor improved on after January’s 7-6 loss to Long Beach Wilson at home.

“I think our shooting was better, and our defense was better,” she said. “We’ve come together as a team. We really know how to work together and communicate, and we all really want it really bad.”

After McKeon’s early strike, the Sailors went to work. They scored the game’s next three goals, two from Bury and a power-play strike from Klippert, to earn a 3-1 lead midway through the second quarter.

Newport Harbor senior goalie Morgan Vickers (four saves) kept it that way, blocking a penalty shot from senior Sarah Welty with just over three minutes left before halftime.

But Welty connected on a six-on-five a minute later, and neither team scored in the third quarter, so Newport Harbor had a slim 3-2 lead headed into the fourth.

After Klippert won her fourth straight quarter-starting sprint, junior Nicolina McCall scored from set for a 4-2 lead, but McKeon answered to again pull Wilson within a goal.

The win wasn’t secured until McCall scored again from set with 36 seconds left in the game.

Klippert had six steals in the game, with Bury adding three. McCall and senior Jessica Robinson had two each, helping Newport Harbor earn a 16-6 advantage in steals.

Those steals often led to counterattacks for the Sailors, who have now won 11 straight.

“Newport had more opportunities to score than we did,” Wilson Coach Tony Martinho said. “I thought they did a great job of playing defense, which limited our chances. They outswam us this evening, and we were chasing all night long. But, you come to expect that with a Bill Barnett-coached team, a lot of presses and a lot of counters. We knew that’s the game it would be. They’re tough, physical and execute very well.”

Barnett, in turn, was at least half-impressed.

“Our defense was good, to say the least,” Barnett said. “Offensively, we did not shoot the ball well, nor did we pass well. I thought we could have scored two or three more goals.”

Still, it was good enough for the Sailors to move on and face their familiar Back Bay rival. It will be the fifth time Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar have played each other this season.

The Sailors are 3-1 against the Sea Kings, the lone loss coming in the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions title game.

“We know all their plays, and they know pretty much all of ours,” Simons said. “We’ve studied each other so much, so we just have to come out twice as hard.”

CIF Southern Section Division I

Semifinal

Newport Harbor 5, Long Beach Wilson 3

NH – Bury 2, McCall 2, Klippert 1. Saves – Vickers 4.

LBW – McKeon 2, Welty 1. Saves – Hardy 9.

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or by e-mail at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.