Newport Harbor Rallies to Advance

Though Newport Harbor’s second-round game against Santa Monica had a nightmarish beginning, the Sailors still managed to bring a smile to the face of their coach, Bill Barnett, after they rallied to win.

Newport Harbor defeated Santa Monica, 9-7, Thursday at Heritage Park to advance to today’s quarterfinals of the Irvine Southern California Championships girls’ water polo tournament.

Since there are no official Southern Section playoffs for the sport this season (the section will add playoffs next season), the Irvine tournament is providing a season-ending alternative. It features a strong, 32-team field that includes all of the county’s top-10 teams and most of the section’s best teams.

Newport Harbor (17-6), seeded third in its bracket, advanced to play top-seeded Los Alamitos (22-0), a 12-3 winner over Foothill, in the quarterfinals at 6 tonight at Heritage Park.

Alden Moore scored six goals Thursday to lead the Sailors, but they started sluggishly and watched second-seeded Santa Monica (20-2) race to a four-goal first-quarter lead.

“They took that 4-0 lead because of some boneheaded things we did,” Barnett said. “We never felt like we were out of it. This was a great tribute to the girls for coming back the way they did. I was pleased with the effort.”

Barnett wasn’t pleased early when sophomore Leyla Ramos scored two goals to help Santa Monica take a 3-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. After Diana Follette scored to make it 4-0, Santa Monica appeared well on its way to the quarterfinals, considering its only loss this season came against Redlands.

But Moore scored three consecutive goals and Jena Barto’s goal off an assist from Moore pulled Newport Harbor even, 4-4, with 1 minute 2 seconds remaining in the half.

Newport Harbor converted three consecutive six-on-five situations and took the lead for good when Jocelyn Mandermo scored off Erin Murphy’s assist to put the Sailors ahead, 8-7, with four seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Moore added a four-meter penalty shot in the fourth quarter and the Sailors’ defense did the rest.

“After the first quarter we switched our defenses around and alternated between our zone and our press,” Barnett said. “They couldn’t get into a rhythm.”

In other second-round games at Heritage Park:

Los Alamitos 12, Foothill 3--Kristin Guerin scored four goals and Stacy Black added three for Los Alamitos (22-0), which scored the game’s first 10 goals. Foothill did not have a shot on goal in the first quarter.

Irvine 10, Esperanza 4--Nicole Huszcz scored five goals and Erin Lezak added two for Irvine (20-2), which advanced to play Santa Barbara in the quarterfinals.

Kim Steele scored three goals for the Aztecs (14-13), who advanced to the second round with a 5-4 overtime victory over Thousand Oaks. Katie Hayden scored the game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime for the Aztecs.

Santa Barbara 8, Santa Margarita 7--Katie Ferguson scored four goals for the Eagles, who had a chance to tie in the final minute but did not get a shot in their final possession.

Villa Park 7, Edison 4--Cammie French scored three goals to lead Villa Park in the second game for both teams. In Villa Park’s first game, Kristen Thompson scored in the third overtime for Villa Park, which defeated University, 8-7. In Edison’s first game, Kami Fleming scored three goals and Brooke Fleming added two to lead Edison, which defeated Chadwick, 6-2.

Marina 5, Goleta Dos Pueblos 2--Marina scored three goals in the second half and defeated Goleta Dos Pueblos, ranked fifth in the Southern Section to advance the quarterfinals.

The Vikings (14-4), ranked ranked fourth in Orange County, face Long Beach Wilson, top-seeded in its bracket, at 6 p.m. today at El Toro.

Jenny Lamb scored two goals for Marina. Candice Chick had 14 saves for the Vikings.

Lamb scored eight goals in a first-round, 9-6 victory over host El Toro. Chick had nine saves in the first half of the game.

In the first round:

Los Alamitos 13, Woodbridge 0--Stacy Black scored three goals and Shelli Linza, Kristin Guerin and Natalie Fagan each had two for the Griffins.

Coronado 11, Corona del Mar 4--Meagan Hardt scored two goals for Corona del Mar (7-11) in the first-round loss.

In the Empire League:

El Dorado 18, Kennedy 0--Jessamyn Grewal scored three times and Holly Kachelmyer, Becky Johnson and Jennifer Rineer each scored twice for El Dorado (14-8, 8-0). Kennedy finished 0-8.

In the South Coast League:

Capistrano Valley 10, Mater Dei 5--Jessica Povey scored nine goals, including all five in the first half, for Capistrano Valley (11-9, 4-1), which finished second in league. Third-place Mater Dei is 12-6, 3-2.