Tars stay ahead of Sea Kings

NEWPORT BEACH — Bill Barnett can sense he has a special team this year, a girls’ water polo squad that possesses great talent and nice balance.

Along with that, there have been high expectations for Newport Harbor High. The legendary coach only welcomes that.

“It’s good to have high expectations,” Barnett said. “When people have high expectations toward you, that must mean you’re good ... This is a good team. There are a lot of good athletes here.”

The Sailors feature a one-two punch in seniors Kaleigh Gilchrist and Kate Klippert, but on Friday at Newport Harbor their goalie was also delivering some hellacious blows. Senior Krissy Burger helped make a difference in leading the Sailors to a 9-3 win over rival Corona del Mar. Her nine saves sparked Newport Harbor (4-0), yet also revealed just how far apart the Back Bay rivals are this year.

“Krissy Burger played a helluva game,” said Barnett, who was also pleased with senior Colleen McCall (five saves). “[Burger] made tremendous stops ... She just really had a great game.”

Barnett didn’t think Burger’s performance had anything to do with the matchup, yet did note that his players were excited about the game. The Sea Kings also appeared pumped up, as they only trailed, 1-0, after the first quarter. But the Sailors turned it on in the second quarter with four goals and took a 5-2 lead into the half.

CdM (3-3) didn’t have an answer for Gilchrist, who finished with three goals, each providing a highlight-type flair. She scored with a back-handed shot early in the second quarter, then with a sweet-touch lob shot on a breakaway in the third and capped it with a spectacular skip shot on a six-on-five in the fourth.

The power play didn’t go so well for CdM, as the Sea Kings went one for nine. The Sailors were two for six with the extra player. But overall, as CdM Coach Aaron Chaney put it, Newport Harbor was a step ahead.

It appears that also applies to matter out of the water.

For the first time in Chaney’s nine seasons at CdM, the program doesn’t have a frosh-soph team. The coach says the participation numbers are at an all-time low. He also believes the CdM junior club team needs improvements.

“We need to beef up our club program, our junior polo program,” he said. “We need to get more girls to come out and play water polo. Newport has a great junior polo program. The best teams in high school are the ones that have the great junior polo programs. In the past we’ve had a lot of success. We’ve had a really strong junior polo program. Our junior polo program has dropped off. And we’re working on building it back up. We’ve lost a lot of girls.”

Chaney also said CdM does not have a frosh-soph team because the few underclassmen are on the varsity. The Sea Kings are young and inexperienced, he said, not the same as the team that reached the CIF Southern Section Division I final the past two years.

Of the 12 girls on the varsity, six have had had really varsity experience, Chaney said.

Still in the Battle of the Bay Friday, the Sailors held the Sea Kings in high regard.

“They’re not as good as they were last year, but they’re still a very good team, with a lot of talent and they’re very well-coached,” Barnett said. “So on any given day, they’re going to beat a lot of good teams.”