Sailors misfire in loss

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IRVINE — Some believe the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team came close to perfection in a 14-10 CIF Southern Section Division I semifinal triumph on Wednesday.

But the temptation to flirt with a similarly thin margin for error may have proved costly for the Sailors in an 11-9 loss to El Toro in the title match Saturday at Irvine High.

El Toro Coach Don Stoll theorized that sophomore goalie Garrett Danner, whom Stoll said is the best he has had in 40 years of coaching, may have been just good enough to push Sailors’ shooters an inch or two out of their comfort zone.

And that’s about all it took.

For while Danner made 15 saves, some of the spectacular variety, he also benefited from 11 Newport Harbor shots that caromed off either the crossbar or goal posts, to help deny the Tars their third section crown in three seasons.

“To be honest, Newport missed a lot of shots off the bars,” Stoll said. “They had some six-on-fives and some other shots that they had guys wide open. I think there can be an intimidation factor with some goalies, who can make you try to fine-tune your shot ... Shooters try to anticipate what they can and can’t do on certain goalies ... Danner is the kind of guy that will make you think twice about your shot.”

The myriad near-misses were not the only shortcomings for the No. 2-seeded Sailors (26-5).

The No. 4-seeded Chargers (29-3) also scored three breakaway goals and another in transition to build leads of 5-1 and 10-5.

“Early, I think we had some bad luck shooting,” Newport Harbor Coach Jason Lynch said. “We probably had three shots that were in the goal, but rattled out and another that hit Danner in the back of the head [off the crossbar and ricocheted back off the goal post for a double whammy]. At least three of those should have gone in, which hurt us, because [it prevented us] from keeping pace with them.

“But we gave them about three goals, at least, by playing into exactly what we knew they were going to do,” Lynch said of El Toro’s counterattack scores

“We’ve been doing that all year and it drives people nuts,” Stoll said of the fastbreak opportunities. “It also keeps their offense off balance. [Nick] Rascone and [Russell] Renteria both go 47 [seconds] in the 100. And not only can they read well and get down the pool fast, but Danner can pass it right to their hand.”

Rascone, who led all players with five goals, scored twice on leak-outs, the first giving El Toro a 4-1 cushion and the second creating a 7-3 lead midway through the third quarter.

Renteria capped the Chargers’ one-on-none tallies with 1:18 left in the third period, creating a 9-5 advantage.

El Toro also scored on would-be dumps toward the end of the shot clock in a 61-second span late in the third quarter to further demoralize the Tars. After Joey Colton found the corner of the cage from 10 meters out, Renteria also found an opening from mid-tank about a minute later to cap three straight Charger goals after Newport had closed to within 7-5.

Newport, trying to win its second CIF title in the past three years, scored the final three goals to cut into the deficit.

Senior Blake Kelly and freshman Jon Walters had three goals apiece for the Tars. Zach Lucas had two goals and fellow senior Jack Yeager rounded out the Sailors’ scoring.

“We didn’t execute,” Lynch said. “It’s hugely disappointing. We’re better than them, but they definitely played well tonight. I’ve got to give [the Chargers] credit. They did a good job.”