Newport Harbor girls’ water polo edged by Foothill in Newport Invite final
The high school girls’ water polo season has reached the last week before the CIF Southern Section playoffs begin.
Local teams had one last top tournament over the weekend to try to polish their skills.
Newport Harbor came close to winning its host Newport Invite title but was edged by Foothill in the title match, 9-8, on Saturday evening at Newport Harbor High.
Laguna Beach placed fifth in the tournament after routing Oaks Christian 20-12 in the fifth-place match.
Newport Harbor (17-8) concluded a positive tournament that included a big 7-6 semifinal victory over Mater Dei. The Monarchs had beaten the Sailors by a single goal in both of the teams’ previous tournaments, the Bill Barnett Holiday Cup and the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.
“I thought we showed a lot of growth and a lot of maturity, and started to have those winning habits, those championship habits,” Sailors coach Ross Sinclair said. “That’s what we’re going to need to go on a three-game run come CIF [in the Open Division playoffs] … I thought we grew and matured in that Mater Dei game. It actually started in the Laguna game [a 10-6 tournament quarterfinal win on Friday]. We did a really good job of maintaining the game, controlling the game and not giving up easy opportunities.”
The Newport Invite final against Foothill (20-4) was close throughout, though the Knights opened up a 4-1 second quarter lead. The Sailors also battled back from an 8-6 deficit in the final frame, with freshman Valery Verdugo scoring a power-play goal in the final two minutes before Sophia Del Villar drove inside and scored, assisted by Verdugo, with 28 seconds left.
Foothill had the answer, as sophomore Kirra Panteleon buried a shot into the right corner, her third goal that matched her with Diedre Murphy for team-high honors. Verdugo gave the Sailors one last attempt, but the referees ruled that Foothill goalkeeper Emma Perrigo was able to sweep the shot off the goal line as the match ended.
It was the sixth one-goal loss of the season for Newport Harbor, and the Sailors’ other two losses were by two goals.
“Going into CIF, we have a lot of fire to beat all the teams,” Verdugo said after the match. “Every team can be beatable, it’s just how much effort we put into it. Seeing growth over this tournament, we have a strong future ahead of us.”
Newport Harbor senior center Ryan Chalupnik battled through sickness to score three goals in the tournament final, while junior Harper Price and freshmen Madison Mack and Gabby Alexson also scored. Junior goalkeeper Lydia Soderberg made eight saves.
Del Villar and Mack led with two goals each in the semifinal victory over Mater Dei, while Soderberg shined with two penalty-shot blocks among her five saves.
Junior Caitlin Stayt had the eventual game-winning power-play goal with 2:36 left.
Newport Harbor won at rival Corona del Mar on Tuesday, 13-7, in its Surf League finale. The Sailors shared the league title with Laguna Beach.
Laguna Beach (16-11) suffered a pair of losses Friday but came back to close the tournament strong with a pair of wins on Saturday. They included an impressive 16-11 victory over The Bishop’s School of La Jolla in a fifth-place semifinal, before routing Oaks Christian.
The Breakers had balanced scoring in that final match, led by emerging junior Kara Carver with five goals. Seniors Emmy Hensley and Ava Knepper scored four goals each, while sophomore Brooke Schneider stood out with three goals and three assists. Senior Sophie Colladay also netted a pair of goals.
Junior goalkeeper Siena Jumani made six saves and also dished out several assists to Carver on the counterattack.
“We ended on a strong note,” Hensley said. “I think we had just decided that it was time to full send, no regrets. At this point, we just want to make the season the best we can. We have so much time left together. This is a special group, and we just want to fight for each other.”
Laguna Beach beat Los Alamitos 16-9 on Tuesday to conclude Surf League play.
CdM is runner-up at Irvine Southern California Championships
The Corona del Mar girls’ water polo team also is preparing for the postseason.
The Sea Kings earned a second-place finish at the Irvine Southern California Championships, falling to top-seeded Orange Lutheran 16-7 in the title match Saturday evening at Corona del Mar High.
Ava Schoening and Didi Evans scored three goals each to lead CdM (16-11), and Reagan Weir also scored.
The Sea Kings got to the final after a big 11-10 overtime win over Long Beach Wilson in the quarterfinals, anchored by junior goalkeeper Gabby MacAfee with 14 saves. Junior left-hander Mackenzie Dollander had four goals, including the game winner.
Weir, Dollander and Evans combined for 10 goals in a 14-4 romp over Los Alamitos in the tournament semifinal.
Updates
12:50 p.m. Jan. 31, 2024: This story has been updated to reflect Tuesday’s league results.
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