Sailors in Masters

Despite being an at-large team in the inaugural CIF Masters Boys Water Polo Tournament, Newport Harbor received the No. 3 seed and will face Redlands Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the first round of the 16-team event at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.

The Sailors (24-6), who lost to eventual champion El Toro, 6-5, in a CIF Southern Section Division I semifinal, now want to make the most of their second chance.

“We have some motivation in that we didn’t get to the finals,” Newport Harbor Coach Jason Lynch said. “This could be another opportunity to get there. We got the No. 3 seed even though we were an at-large team. That says what the team has done and the effort they have put in.”

Lynch added that he was a bit surprised the Sailors received the No. 3 seed, but said he turned in a “pretty good at-large,” application.

“One of the things was we had played El Toro and lost 8-4 early in the season and then pulled it to 6-5 in the semifinals,” Lynch said. “It shows marked improvement on our part. We also lost to Harvard-Westlake early and then we beat them up north, 7-5.”

The Sailors could possibly face Harvard-Westlake in the quarterfinals, which also take place Friday. Newport would play at 6 p.m. and if it advance it would play at 3 p.m. Saturday. The championship match is on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“We’re excited definitely,” Lynch said. “We’re excited that we get to keep trying to play our best game. We thought we played well against El Toro and we’re always looking to play better.”

El Toro, the Division I champion, is the top seed and Northwood, which lost to the Chargers in the final Tuesday, is he second seed. Newport has not faced Northwood this season.