Newport falls in opener
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — A couple of minutes into the Newport Harbor High boys’ lacrosse season, Coach Mark Todd identified the offensive players that might hurt the Sailors on Tuesday.
“No. 12! No. 19! No. 3!” Todd yelled at his defense, which tried to focus on the players wearing those three jersey numbers for host Santa Margarita.
Todd was right. Those three players turned out to be the Eagles’ top offensive weapons.
The Sailors just couldn’t contain the trio in the opening quarter, or for much of the evening.
The three players, Andrew Luher, Hayden Ruiz and Wes Schuler, had a stick in the first six goals of the game. They continued their scoring barrage as the Eagles went on to earn an 11-5 win, their first victory of the season.
It took the Eagles two games to prevail. They came out with a bang against their second Sunset League opponent in five days.
Newport Harbor’s next chance to get its first win is Saturday. It won’t be easy finishing on top because Todd scheduled another tough road game.
The Sailors are at El Toro on Saturday at 2:30 p.m., followed by a game at St. Margaret’s on March 7.
The early robust schedule is by design. What hasn’t been by design is having four starters out in the Sailors’ season opener.
“We had two of our first-string faceoff guys [out],” said Todd, referring to Riley Peterson and Nathan Chaness, who have the flu. “We got two guys who just learned how to face off right before the game.”
That didn’t bode well for the Sailors. Neither did playing without defender Tyler Palmquist (wrist) and midfielder Max Catlin-Tenn (ankle).
Santa Margarita took advantage of the Sailors’ limited roster.
The Sailors and Eagles met for the third straight season. Last season at Peninsula Park, Newport Harbor led at halftime, until the Eagles soared back to win, 10-6.
Santa Margarita (1-1) started and finished strong in this season’s matchup.
Five minutes in, the Eagles put away their first power-play opportunity. Schuler fed Luher on the left side, where Luher was a couple of steps away from the cage. Luher finished the play, recording the first of his team-high four goals.
Two minutes later, Luher scored again in the first quarter. Ruiz set up the goal.
Toward the end of the quarter, it was the midfielder’s chance to shoot and Ruiz buried it. Ruiz finished with a hat trick.
Newport Harbor’s Riley Robinson turned in the other four-goal effort in the contest. The attacker ended the Eagles’ shutout bid right before halftime by scoring an unassisted goal.
But it was Santa Margarita going into the break with the momentum. With five seconds left in the first half, Schuler, from way outside, beat the goalie, giving the Eagles a 7-1 lead.
The Eagles continued to attack.
Five minutes into the third quarter, Luher and Ruiz gave Santa Margarita an eight-goal lead, the biggest of the game.
The Sailors didn’t go away. They reeled off the next three goals. Robinson scored on a breakaway, then on a power-play chance, and Andrew Wilson’s first goal cut the Sailors’ deficit to 9-4 with 2:05 left in the third quarter.
That was as close as Newport Harbor got to Santa Margarita, which defeated the Sailors for the third consecutive season.
“Our team is better than [it] showed,” said Todd, adding that Newport Harbor needs a little more self-discipline.
“We just got to make adjustments at coaching and we’re doing our best in teaching the guys on the fly. They’re learning new positions that they weren’t expected to play coming into the season.”
Twitter: @DCPenaloza