Sailors cruise past Trojans in opener

NEWPORT BEACH — The forecast for Friday calls for hotter weather.

Coach Jason Lynch is counting on his Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team to heat up as well.

The Sailors were on fire in a 17-6 home victory against University in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division I playoffs Wednesday.

But Lynch wants more quality play from Newport Harbor in the quarterfinals Friday.

So, what will it take for Newport Harbor (21-7) to make a run at defending its section championship?

“A lot better performance than that,” Lynch said. “We’ll see what we can do.”

Newport Harbor plays host to No. 4-seeded Santa Barbara (22-7) after Lynch said the Sailors won the coin flip determining the home team.

The two teams didn’t meet during the regular season.

The Sailors are familiar with the Dons. The Channel League champions finished ranked No. 3, two spots ahead of the Sailors in the CIF Southern Section Division I final regular-season coaches’ poll.

“The only time we played them [was] in [the offseason in] June,” Lynch said. “We ended up beating them by a goal. They’re a strong team. They have a lot of returning guys. They’re fast. They’re smart.”

Santa Barbara is a lot like Newport Harbor, the Sunset League runner-up.

The Sailors used their strengths to put away University (15-14) in the third period.

Five players contributed goals during a 6-1 run, giving Newport Harbor a 13-4 lead.

During the attack, senior center David Linden scored one of his career-best six goals and senior driver Andy Hayes added two of his three goals.

“This is a new season for us,” said Linden, who also finished with three steals, one more than Hayes. “We’re going to make it a four-game winning streak.”

If the Sailors win four in a row, they’re back-to-back champs.

Linden, who leads the Sailors with 55 goals, made sure Newport Harbor easily got through the first round. He scored twice in the opening period, allowing the Sailors to jump ahead, 3-0.

Defensively, the Sailors controlled the first seven minutes by coming up with five steals. They didn’t capitalize on each turnover.

“I think one goal was a result of those steals,” said Lynch, whose team finished with 13 steals in the match. “I thought we were real casual on offense at the start.”

The tempo picked up in the second half as juniors Blake Kelly and Zach Lucas, and senior Zach Osadche got involved offensively.

Kelly poured in seven goals in the previous match against University on Oct. 4.

He tallied two goals Wednesday, but the Sailors managed to beat the Trojans again by the same score, 17-6.

Newport Harbor senior Dustin Hayes’ goal from way out at the buzzer made it possible.

There was another thing that happened in the second match that happened in the first meeting with University.

“No. 7 hurt us just as bad,” said Lynch, referring to University senior Colin Hicks, who scored five goals, giving him 143, a Trojans’ single-season school record. “We knew that No. 7 was the guy to stop and we didn’t do a very good job of stopping him.”

Andy Hayes said the mission was to not allow Hicks more than three goals. Hicks scored three on five-meter penalty shots.

“Just caught off guard, got a little complacent,” Hayes said. “Then we got back to reality.”

CIF Division I playoffs

First round

Newport Harbor 17, University 6

SCORE BY QUARTERS

U – Hicks 5, Clumpner 1. Saves – Kim 4.

NH – Linden 6, A. Hayes 3, Kelly 2, Lucas 2, Russell 1, Yeager 1, Osadche 1, D. Hayes 1. Saves – Holbrook 7.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.