JUNIOR OLYMPICS:

MISSION VIEJO — Right after one local team lost for the first time at the S&R; Sports USA Water Polo National Juniors Olympics, another local team jumped into the same pool and lost for the first time, too.

Someone said it must’ve been the water at Capistrano Valley High.

Both the Newport Water Polo Foundation and Corona del Mar Polo 18-and-under girls’ teams dropped their respective second matches Friday.

It was a setback for each in the Platinum Division. They returned to action later in the night, trying to salvage their days.

But they couldn’t. And you can’t blame the water because each played at different sites.

Newport lost to L.A. Water Polo Foundation, 7-5, at El Toro High to go 1-2 on the second day of competition.

CdM lost to Santa Barbara Water Polo Club A, 6-2, at Santa Margarita High to finish 0-2-1.

Both outcomes were huge.

Coach Jenna Murphy said Newport needs to win today against Marin at Capistrano Valley at 10:20 a.m. in order to get the opportunity to place ninth through 12th in the tournament.

CdM’s hope of finishing in the top 12 isn’t as good when it faces NCSD today at Golden West College at 10:20 a.m.

Before their third matches, Newport lost to Chino Hills Area Water Polo, 8-6, and CdM fell to SET A, 7-5.

Each coach pinned the losses on different things.

“This tournament is super competitive and there’s no room for little glitches defensively and offensively,” Murphy said. “I told our girls, ‘We just have to put this game behind us and just get ready to battle from now on.’”

Newport looked as though it would bounce back. It jumped out to a 2-0 lead against L.A. But L.A. eventually tied it before scoring two big-time goals in the fourth to win.

Against Santa Barbara A, CdM Coach Kyle Gorham saw his team struggle offensively. In Game 2, it played conservatively.

“It was a unique situation we were put in,” Gorham said. “To advance, we either had to win, or allow less than eight goals. I think that kind of got in our heads a little bit in the fact that we were playing more for [SET A] not to score than for us to score.

“It ended up backfiring on us because we weren’t moving as much.”

CdM kept the match against SET A close throughout, unlike Newport, which allowed CHAWP to score three straight goals in the fourth period to take a commanding 8-4 lead with 2 minutes, 24 seconds left.

Twice in the fourth, Kate Berry and Victoria Kennedy cut SET A’s lead to one goal.

But in the final three minutes, CdM’s shape in the pool lost form. Kelsey Suggs gave SET A a 7-5 advantage when she scored her third goal of the match.

“I think we kind of gave up at the end,” said Berry, a senior-to-be at Corona del Mar High in the fall. “We were trying not to let them score eight and we kind of stopped attacking.

“I think if we kept on attacking we probably could’ve beat them.”

Early on against CHAWP, Newport felt the same way.

Twice it led before going into halftime tied at 3-3. Mia Butera, Mimi Bury and Nicolina McCall each scored goals for Newport.

The offensive production stopped, except for another goal by Butera, in the next 10 minutes. CHAWP went on a 5-1 run to put the match away.

“We started to let them counter,” Newport goalie Morgan Vickers said. “We weren’t prepared for it, even though we knew that’s what they do. We just weren’t paying attention to it.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].