Girls’ water polo: CdM pulls away to beat Newport Harbor

Winning the Battle of the Bay girls’ water polo game before a packed house at Newport Harbor High was important to every girl in the water Friday night.

Having Olympic gold medalists Maddie Musselman (CdM alumna) and Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport alumna) honored before the game and sitting on the bench just added to the pressure.

But some, like Corona del Mar High senior Jaleh Moaddeli, found ways to go above and beyond.

Moaddeli somehow beat a swarm of Newport Harbor defenders to score in the third quarter, then came back with a left-handed push shot on the counterattack in the fourth.

Yes, she is right handed, but she also was motivated to win her final Battle of the Bay.

The Sea Kings did so, pulling away in the second half to claim a 9-5 victory and earn their second straight win of the rivalry game.

Moaddeli led CdM (2-0) and all players with three goals. But it wasn’t easy. Newport Harbor (6-1), which has had a quick start to the season, started the Battle of the Bay quick as well.

After senior goalie Chloe Schilling made three power-play saves in the first couple of minutes, the Sailors struck. Junior Jessica Lynch fed fellow junior Sarah Barker for a rebound goal, then Lynch found junior co-captain Kaela Whelan for a backhand goal that gave the Sailors a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.

CdM, to its credit, did not get flustered.

“It’s always very high-speed at the beginning of the game,” Moaddeli said. “Everybody’s all excited. We regrouped a little bit, kind of took a deep breath and just started grinding.”

Chloe Harbilas scored a backhand goal, then Moaddeli added a power-play strike up top. After senior co-captain Sarah Lawson scored another outside goal, the Sea Kings suddenly had a 3-2 advantage midway through the second quarter.

It went to 4-2 after senior co-captain Emily Ritner skipped in a goal from the outside.

“We were able to find the net, score a couple of goals and do a better job of finishing,” CdM Coach Kevin Ricks said. “It was good to see them build through the game, get stronger and more productive as the game went on.”

Lynch scored her only goal of the game on the power play in the final minute of the half, narrowing the Sailors’ halftime deficit to 4-3. The Sailors even had a chance to draw even at the break, after CdM goalie Erin Tharp (six saves) was excluded. But Lawson got a big field block in the closing seconds of the half.

Newport, it turned out, could never quite come all the way back.

“I’m just really proud of my teammates,” Lawson said. “We’ve been working so hard this past month, and it’s always hard going into it knowing that Newport has had so much game experience. I’m really proud that we didn’t let the first couple of goals get to us, and we just rallied.”

Harbilas drew a power-play chance in the third quarter, then scored it. Whelan’s cross-cage strike again brought the Sailors within 5-4, but Moaddeli had an answer 30 seconds later. She beat a triple-team to score with 4:50 remaining in the quarter.

Then Ritner’s second goal, on Lawson’s assist, suddenly brought CdM’s lead to 7-4 less than a minute later.

It was 7-5 entering the fourth after Newport sophomore Karis Couch scored, and the Sailors had a golden chance to bring it back within a goal. But a six-on-five shot went off the right post.

“The difference in the game was that they executed a little bit better than us,” Newport Harbor Coach Brian Melstrom said. “They shot the ball better. We had a lot of good looks that we didn’t capitalize on.”

On the other end, Moaddeli countered following the power-play shot off the post, scoring with her left hand. If that wasn’t the dagger, CdM sophomore Sophie Wallace’s only goal of the night was. She scored on a lob from seven meters with 3:58 remaining, giving the visitors their final 9-5 advantage.

Newport Harbor tallied just three goals in the final 25:02 of the game.

“I think we played better defense in the overall game than we did offense,” said CdM’s Ritner, who guarded Newport’s leading scorer Lynch most of the game. “We just kind of shut them down in everything that they did. We definitely held Lynch to a low number of goals [one], and I just think together we just worked together as a unit really well. Overall, it was really solid defense on our part.”

The final CdM senior co-captain, Kelly Morgan, helped limit the Sailors’ production at two meters.

Schilling made nine saves and two steals for Newport Harbor, which got a game-high three steals from Couch, along with two steals and an assist from sophomore Annie Rankin. Fellow sophomore Kili Skibby also had an assist and a steal.

But it was CdM that would come out on top and take momentum into next week’s Holiday Cup tournament, which is co-hosted by Newport Harbor and CdM and starts Thursday.

“I think it gives up a lot of momentum,” Lawson said. “It builds us up, so we can go into the tournament confident. I think we do have a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, and we want to get up there in the rankings [after being ranked No. 7 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 in the preseason poll]. So this is a really good win for us.”