Prep column: A loss worth celebrating

Barry Faulkner

Whatever their future may hold, the girls wearing the pleated plaid

of the Newport Harbor High field hockey team have already smiled in the

face of sudden death.

In an age when defeat often reduces grown men to sobbing zombies, a

phenomenon magnified by the presence of television cameras seemingly

capable of zooming into a fallen hero’s smallest facial pore, the

aforementioned Sailors displayed rare perspective after a 1-0

sudden-death overtime loss to Marina in Saturday’s Tournament of

Champions final.

Stunned, crestfallen, disappointed, spent? You bet. But, as far as I

could tell, the aftermath of the game’s only goal, not quite three

minutes into the extra session that followed two scoreless 30-minute

halves, left only one Harbor player in tears. And even she was laughing

in no time, as she posed with teammates for postgame pictures to

commemorate the best team in school history.

The Sailors finished 19-4-1, including 17 shutouts, as well as the

only Sunset League title anyone could recall.

This is not to suggest they took defeat lightly. Anyone who witnessed

this team compete, had to be impressed by its relentless hustle,

determination, even dismissal of personal well-being in pursuit of

victory.

Senior defender Sarah Green somehow managed to survive a semifinal and

final in which her body became a willing, though reckless, tool for the

cause. Though play was stopped twice as coaches and teammates tended to

her injuries, and she alternately applied an ice bag to her forehead and

left knee during halftime, she spent precious little time on the

sideline.

But Green’s was only the most dramatic display of devotion, as a

seemingly endless stream of substitutions failed to diminish Harbor’s

intensity.

Yet, unlike so many of their peers, the termination of their title

dream did not overwhelm their pride in a season of rare accomplishment.

Nor did it faze their fondness for teammates, many of whom walked off the

field arm in arm.

As parents and peers stood silently on the sideline, senior Shirin

Oskooi sprinted from the Harbor huddle toward the center of the field.

She then plummeted into the splits, prompting appreciative laughter from

her fellow players.

On this final day of their ultimate season, the Sailors didn’t let a

technicality like the final score spoil their fun.

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The fun is just beginning for Back Bay boys water polo powers Newport

Harbor and Corona del Mar.

Both open CIF Southern Section playoff action later this week as their

respective division’s No. 1 seed.

Both are also in search of their 11th section crown, after CdM tied

the Tars in that department by winning Division II last fall.

Harbor, which got past the quarterfinals for the first time in seven

postseason appearances last season, losing in overtime in the Division I

semifinals, has not won a CIF title since 1984.

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Though it’s not yet official, the Newport Harbor High football team is

a virtual lock to advance to the postseason. A worst-case scenario (a

loss to Aliso Niguel Friday combined with a Woodbridge loss) would create

a three-way tie for second and leave the Sailors at the whim of a

successful coin flip to obtain one of the league’s final two guaranteed

berths. But, even with such misfortune, as the only at-large candidate

with seven wins, the Tars would be assured the school’s 21st trip to the

postseason.

Meanwhile in Division IX, Costa Mesa could still salvage an at-large

bid. A Mesa win over last-place Northwood Thursday, combined with a Troy

victory over Buena Park and a Baldwin Park win over Bonita (both

Thursday), would leave the Mustangs as the division’s only at-large

candidate with six wins.