JUNIOR OLYMPICS:

IRVINE — After five victories, including an 11-1 win over Foothill, the Newport Water Polo Foundation 16-and-under girls’ confidence was definitely high.

But NWPF couldn’t ride the momentum it build up over two days and dropped three straight games at Irvine High Saturday at the S&R; Sports USA Water Polo National Junior Olympics.

NWPF, made up of Newport Harbor High incoming sophomores and juniors, will still play in a fifth-place semifinal of the elite Platinum Division today at 11 a.m. at Irvine High.

“Rough day,” NWPF assistant coach Brian Melstrom said. “But we played really hard. I’m really happy with the effort, just mental errors that allowed it to get away from us.”

NWPF began Saturday with a 7-2 loss to Santa Barbara Water Polo Club, but remained in medal contention, as it was among the final eight. So that meant its game against Los Angeles Water Polo Club Red proved pivotal, “a must-win,” Melstrom called it.

LAWPC Red, which remains undefeated as it heads into today’s semifinals, appeared to be the better team throughout the matchup, yet Newport hung around until being shutout in the final period, when LA scored twice to win 8-4.

Kaleigh Gilchrist, who will be a junior at Harbor in the fall, scored three goals and drew four ejections. However, Newport couldn’t capitalize on its six-on-five opportunities, scoring three times out of its seven extra-player chances.

Coach Bill Barnett shouted out instructions during the game, trying to get his players to take better shots. At times, they did, but LA kept them at bay.

Catherine Carpenter scored Newport’s first goal with 2:51 left in the opening period that caught LA, 1-1. Newport also tied at 2-2, but LA scored two goals in the final 66 seconds of the first half.

“We played very physically, as hard as we could play those girls,” Melstrom said. “The difference was a couple of bad-angle shots allowing them to counterattack the other way. Not very good spacing on our six-on-five.”

Newport ended its day with a 7-4 loss to SoCal Blue.

“It’s definitely a high-level tournament,” Melstrom said of the Junior Olympics. “These are the top club teams in all the nation. The fact that our high school sophomores and juniors are playing for a chance at fifth place in the under-16 age group is pretty good.”

Corona del Mar is also in the Platinum Division, and will play for 17th place against Houston today at 10:15 a.m. at Irvine High.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at [email protected].