Girls water polo: Sailors outlasts Capo Valley

Steve Virgen

NEWPORT BEACH - Excuses or no excuses, the Newport Harbor girls

water polo team was victorious over Capistrano Valley Friday.

The Tars, ranked No. 3 in Orange County, outscored the No. 2-ranked

Cougars, 3-0, in the final 4:55 to earn a 7-4 nonleague win at the

Sailors’ pool.

Harbor freshman Jessica Ball scored a goal and senior Jenna Booth

tallied the final two to help the Sailors avenge a 2-1 loss to the

Cougars in last week’s Santa Barbara Tournament.

But the Cougars had played three games in as many days.

On Wednesday, they lost to top-ranked Foothill, 2-1. And, Thursday,

they easily defeated Mission Viejo, 17-1.

“ (These were a) bunch of girls who were unfocused,” Coach Jason Lynch

said of his Cougars. “Three games in three days, maybe we were tired.

(The Sailors) had all week to get ready for us. We had Foothill. And,

they also took off their last game against Santa Barbara (in the

tourney).”

Last week, Sailors’ Co-Coach Brian Kreutzkamp said goalie Heather

Deyden was the only starter to play four quarters, while the others sat

after one, in their final game in Santa Barbara.

“We didn’t rest anybody on Wednesday,” Kreutzkamp said of his team’s

win over Laguna Hills.

The Cougars (13-4-1) actually began with a 2-0 lead two minutes into

the second quarter.

The Sailors (15-4) spent the first period searching for rhythm. But,

with seven shots that didn’t find the back of the net, the Tars continued

to search.

Just before the Cougars’ second goal, Harbor earned its second

six-on-five opportunity. Barnett shouted for a timeout, but the Tars

played on and a shot was quickly grabbed by Capistrano Valley goalie

Meridith McColl, a sophomore who finished with 11 saves.

The Cougars scored on the counterattack. The goal seemed to motivate

Harbor, as the Tars improved their intensity and quickly grabbed the

momenutum.

Harbor sophomore Jenna Murphy drew an ejection and Paige Lansing

scored on the player-up with 4:06 remaining before halftime. Less than a

minute later, Lansing drew an ejection and Belden scored her first of

three goals. Her penalty shot with 1:45 left in the half gave the Tars’

their first lead.

“We played harder than we did the last game (against Capistrano

Valley),” Harbor Co-Coach Bill Barnett said. “We didn’t change any

strategies. I thought our defense played very well. We swept in when we

had to and we stole a lot of balls.”

Deyden finished with 10 saves, three in the fourth period. With 2:10

remaining, she stopped Amber Stachowski (two goals) one-on-one.

Barnett said he hopes the win continues to give his team momentum as

it heads into the Irvine Tournament next week.

Said Barnett, “If we continue to do well, and that means in the Irvine

Tournament, it will give us a much better seeding in (the CIF playoffs).”

NONLEAGUE

Newport Harbor 7, Capo Valley 4

Score by Quarters

Capistrano Valley 1 1 0 2 - 4

Newport Harbor 0 3 1 3 - 7

Capistrano Valley - Am. Stachowski 2, Seuc 1, Ai. Stachowski 1. Saves

- McColl 11.

Newport Harbor - Belden 3, Booth 2, J. Ball 1, Lansing 1. Saves -

Deyden 10.