Newport Harbor boys’ water polo keeps ‘elite’ edge
The Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team was challenged in stretches at the Elite Eight tournament.
On Friday, San Diego Cathedral Catholic became the first team this season to hold the Sailors to a single-digit goal total.
Oaks Christian and Studio City Harvard-Westlake were able to keep things close for a half and a quarter, respectively, on Saturday.
But one thing about “elite” teams is that they respond to challenges.
The Sailors took all comers as the prestigious tournament, beating host Harvard-Westlake 16-7 in the final for their second Elite Eight title in three years.
Sailors coach Ross Sinclair said his voice went out on Thursday. It was the play of his team over the weekend that spoke loudest of all, as Newport Harbor improved to 19-0 this season.
“We’re such a well-conditioned team, physically and definitely mentally,” said junior attacker Kai Kaneko, who scored a match-high four goals in the final. “It’s just kind of hard to play against us. We’re so deep, and we’re just so tough. There’s no breaking. Even if you find a little crack, we’re going to seal it up and get it together.”
Senior Santino Rossi, senior James Mulvey and junior Mason Netzer each added two goals in the final for the Sailors, who got nine saves from senior goalkeeper Luke Harris.
Rossi and Mulvey are transfers who have fit right in after becoming eligible.
“The goal this week was to continue to develop some cohesion, work some lines and get everyone familiar with each other,” Sinclair said. “It was a good result, in that way.”
Mulvey, who gives the Sailors another standout left-hander along with Netzer, said he’s felt acclimated since day one.
“I love this place,” said Mulvey, formerly at JSerra. “This program is absolutely amazing. They’re all very accepting, all very nice, and definitely all making me a better person and a better player.”
It was Mulvey who got the assist on a standout sequence out of a timeout in the final minute of the first half against Harvard-Westlake. The ball quickly went from Kaneko to Mulvey to senior Lucca Van Der Woude in the middle, who fired it in for an 11-3 halftime advantage.
The Sailors outscored the Wolverines 6-0 in the second quarter on their way to beating them for the second time in the tournament, and fourth time this season.
“I thought the first quarter was good,” Sinclair said. “We just missed a lot of looks in front of the cage, and their goalie [Nathan You] made a bunch of nice saves. Obviously, they played with a lot of energy. It’s a championship game, and that’s to be expected. I thought our guys in the second quarter did a nice job of just staying composed and knowing there’s going to be more opportunities, not to be discouraged. I thought that was a real positive for us.”
John Whitelegge, Hudson Parks, Connor Ohl, Geoff Slutzky and Marco Rizof all added goals in the final for the Sailors. Collin Caras led Harvard-Westlake (12-5) with three goals.
Earlier Saturday, the Sailors beat Oaks Christian 13-5 in the Elite Eight semifinals. Van Der Woude led the way with three goals, while Netzer and Rossi both scored twice.
Dash D’Ambrosia, Caruso Polenzani, Ohl, Slutzky, Rizof and Kaneko added one goal each, while Weston Hartel chipped in two steals.
Harris had seven saves and three steals, before backup goalkeeper Riley Cereda added a pair of saves late.
Harris’ saves often came at key times, like stopping an Oaks Christian counterattack in the first minute of the game after a steal. Harris, a USC commit, also stuffed two more power-play chances for the Lions in the first half.
“It’s pretty crazy having such a good goalie like that,” Kaneko said. “It lets you play the best water polo. When you play consistent defense, you’re going to get consistent offense. If you mess up, Harris has got you … and it’s just so relieving. It just builds so much confidence.”
Confidence is not a problem for the Sailors, who have so far beaten every opponent this season by at least five goals. They return to action on Wednesday with an away game against Los Angeles Loyola at Loyola Marymount University.
“It was a really good tournament for us,” Sinclair said. “It’s hard to win a tournament, hard to win this tournament. To come up for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, it’s tough, but it was a good progression by us.”
Harvard-Westlake edged JSerra 11-10 in the other Elite Eight semifinal match. JSerra rebounded to top Oaks Christian 13-9 in the third-place match.
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