Girls’ Water Polo: Sailors win in OT

The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo program is a proud one. Five CIF Southern Section Division 1 titles will do that for a program.

But the Sailors are currently unranked in Division 1. They came into Wednesday night’s Sunset League showdown against visiting Huntington Beach as a bit of an underdog. And they knew that the Oilers would like nothing more than to beat the Sailors for the first time in their program’s history and gain the driver’s seat in the race for the league title.

Not so fast.

Newport Harbor junior Jessica Lynch scored four goals, and junior Sarah Barker and sophomore Annie Rankin added three each, as the Sailors earned a key 10-8 overtime win over the Oilers to remain in control of their own destiny.

Newport Harbor (12-8, 3-0 in league) remains tied for first place in league with defending champion Los Alamitos with two league games remaining. Huntington Beach (11-6, 2-1) drops to third place, but remains in the hunt for a possible three-way tie for first if it can beat Los Alamitos and the Griffins then top the Sailors.

But, for Newport, Wednesday’s victory had at least a little bit to do with tradition. There was a reason why Coach Brian Melstrom called it possibly the biggest win in his two-year tenure. Barker wouldn’t argue.

“Last year, when we didn’t [win] Sunset League, I was really upset about it personally, leaving that Los Al game,” Barker said. “It really has just put the fire in me to get it back and show that Newport is a team of tradition. We will always be a good program, and we will always come out hard in Sunset League.”

Wednesday’s game was tight until the Sailors started to pull away in the third quarter. Lynch scored on a counterattack, assisted by senior Quincy Morgan. Then Rankin struck twice from up top on the power play. The second time, the sophomore scored from six meters with just 0.9 seconds left in the third quarter, giving the Sailors a 7-4 advantage.

“I think everyone knows that Jessica is our outside shooter, so they press her,” Rankin said. “It’s kind of my time. I always have to pep-talk myself. I expect them to press her, and it’s my time to step up, so I have to gain the confidence [to shoot it]. That’s something that I’m working on.”

But Huntington Beach, ranked No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 and coming off an eighth-place finish at last weekend’s prestigious Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, would rally.

First it was senior Ally Long with a lob goal from five meters, then senior captain Lauren Smith scored on a power play, assisted by senior Kalista Hyham, with 4:37 remaining. The Oilers then got the equalizer with 2:25 to play, when Hyham again found Smith, driving inside for an open look.

Barker responded from center to give the Sailors an 8-7 advantage, but Smith scored her third goal of the quarter with 1:20 remaining. The Sailors got two good chances to score after that, one on a power play, but Huntington Beach junior goalie Marina Hyham (12 saves) made the block each time. She made a nice save in the closing seconds on a hard outside shot by Newport sophomore Karis Couch.

The power play was an issue of concern for the Oilers, who converted just four of 13 opportunities. Newport Harbor made three of its eight power play chances.

Newport Harbor scored the only two goals of overtime. Both came in the first three-minute period, as Barker scored from center before Lynch whistled in an outside shot off a foul.

Senior keeper Chloe Schilling made just four saves in the game for the Sailors, but they were big ones, two coming in player-down situations. Couch and senior co-captain Lissa Westerman added steals.

It was a standout game from Barker, who played the entire 34 minutes.

“She was persistent enough to bide her time and wait for the opening to happen,” Melstrom said. “When it did open up, we got her the ball, and I thought that was a big difference in the game. She got a couple of natural goals out of two meters ... and credit to her. She played all four quarters. She never came out, never gave up and never tired out.

“I think she’s been working really hard in the weight room and with her swim sets. That could have been the difference in her not being in there and not getting that goal, versus her being in there and finishing with the strength and endurance to get it done.”

The Oilers couldn’t quite get it done, but Coach Mark Canner remained very proud of his team. Kalista Hyham, Anna Borton, Bella Vucurevic and Nicca Fallah also scored goals for Huntington Beach.

“Three years ago, we lose that game 20-1, 20-2,” Canner said. “And to see our girls not just go behind, but come back and battle, we’ve been doing that the whole season. I think that’s the maturity of our program, the maturity of our team. I think all of the juniors, sophomores and freshmen see that, and that’s something that’s going to resonate with them. This is a special group of seniors. I’ve worked with them since they were 12 years old, and I care about them tremendously ... The girls came in confident, ready to play and they competed.

“It’s a game of six-on-five and five-on-six. We missed a lot of our six-on-fives, and they executed on theirs. Our six-on-five, that’s normally our bread and butter, what we live on, and we came up a little bit short. I counted about four goals that we missed. I don’t think it’s that we were tight; that’s just how the game goes.”

Newport Harbor was the team that would post its second upset victory of the season. This one meant the Sailors can likely lock up the outright league title by beating Los Alamitos, which is ranked No. 9 in Division 1, in the league finale on Feb. 8. The league has next week off from competition before the Sailors play against Marina on Feb. 1.

“I wouldn’t call [beating Huntington Beach] a signature win, but it’s a huge win and a stepping stone to the goals that we set this year,” Melstrom said. “One of our goals is to win the Sunset League. It’s not a signature win, but this might be my best win that I’ve ever had, even bigger than the Foothill game or any game last year. This is the one where, when we needed to get a win, they got it done. It certainly puts us in a good position to make a run for an outright title.”