PREP ROUNDUP : Surprise Scorer Leads Corona del Mar

Although the Newport Harbor water polo team silenced Corona del Mar’s big guns Wednesday, it stumbled across another Sea Kings weapon.

Brent O’Brien scored five goals to lead Corona del Mar, the top-ranked team in Orange County, to a 6-5 Sea View League victory over sixth-ranked Newport Harbor at Corona del Mar High School.

Corona del Mar’s high-scoring trio of Ted Simpkins, Alex Tahmoush and Austin Weir was limited to a first-quarter goal by Weir.

But O’Brien scored on three four-meter penalty shots and two outside shots to beat an overplaying Newport Harbor defense.

“(Newport Harbor) was sagging in on Ted, so that left it open for Brent,” Corona del Mar Coach John Vargas said. “On the four-meter shots, I figured if he’s hot, I might as well go with him.”

O’Brien sealed the victory with a four-meter penalty shot goal to give Corona del Mar (12-1, 2-0 in league) a 6-4 lead with 24 seconds remaining.

Newport Harbor (8-4, 1-1) never led, but tied the score, 4-4, with 5:06 remaining when Lee LeFlame scored his third goal by beating Corona del Mar goalie Robbie Pike, who had 12 saves, with a shot just inside the left goal post.