No. 1 Newport Harbor Turns Back No. 2 El Toro

Top-ranked Newport Harbor had to work for everything it got against No. 2 El Toro and goalkeeper Doug Brown in Sea View League boys’ water polo Wednesday.

Newport Harbor eventually prevailed when Tyler Caffey rifled in a 10-meter shot with 2 minutes 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter for a 6-5 victory.

In the teams’ only other meeting this season, Newport Harbor beat El Toro, 12-4, in the South Coast tournament, but the Sailors were prepared for a different game this time.

“We knew they would be tough. We’ve been getting ready for them the last two weeks and we stepped it up when we needed it,” Newport Harbor’s Clint Peetz said.

Peetz, who averages two goals a game, was shut down by El Toro’s defense.

And though the Chargers stopped Peetz, they were unable to shutout Gary Conwell, who scored three goals. It was Conwell’s pass from the hole that set up Caffey’s game-winning shot.

Newport Harbor (16-4, 4-0 in league) finished with 24 shots. And though most of the Sailors’ first-quarter attempts were off target, Brown was there to get in the way when they weren’t.

Brown had 11 saves, stopping shots from long distances and up close.

“Doug had a great game for us,” El Toro Coach Don Stoll said. “We knew that if we wanted to keep this game close, we would need a good game from Doug. And he certainly gave us that.”

El Toro (18-6, 3-1) scored first on Trevor McNunn’s four-meter penalty shot with 1:32 left in the first quarter. El Toro kept the Sailors scoreless the first quarter.

Kevin Becker came back with two second-quarter goals to put Newport Harbor up 2-1, but Charger Jeff Lloyd tied the score with 1:16 left in the first half. Lloyd scored two more goals, one in the third quarter and the other in the fourth. His last goal tied the score, 5-5, with 2:46 left in the game. Brad Burnett scored the other goal for El Toro.

In another league game:

Irvine 7, Santa Margarita 6--Jason Herzog, who had five goals for Irvine, scored the winner with 43 seconds left. Mike Nolan scored three goals for Santa Margarita. Irvine is 12-10, 2-2.

In the Century League:

No. 5 Foothill 18, Santa Ana Valley 11--Eitan Goldstein scored six goals and Adam Katz had 14 saves for visiting Foothill (12-7, 3-0).

No. 9 Villa Park 22, Orange 5--Sophomore driver Charlie Fisher scored six goals, and Jimmy Sullivan had three goals and three saves for Villa Park, which remained tied for first with Foothill.

In the Orange League:

Western 10, Brea Olinda 8--Justin Sanders scored five goals and Jacob Weinstock three for Western (17-4, 4-2). Ronny Cunningham had 14 saves for the Pioneers.

In the Sunset League:

No. 6 Marina 15, Huntington Beach 6--Jeff Larson had six goals and five steals and Justin Fassnacht had three goals and five assists for the Vikings (18-2, 4-0).

In Empire League girls’ golf:

El Dorado 145, Savanna 179--Sarah Yarbrough shot 47 to lead El Dorado (11-3) to the Empire League title at par-35 Dad Miller.

In nonleague girls’ golf:

Newport Harbor 135, Foothill 145--Foothill’s Priscilla Park was the medalist, shooting four-over-par 39 at Costa Mesa. Brianna Reehl shot 43 for Newport Harbor (5-11).

University 125, Villa Park 149--Angela Won shot two-over 38 at Strawberry Farms for University (16-0). Michelle Barth finished with a 44 for the Trojans.

In Empire League girls’ tennis:

Katella 11 1/2, Kennedy 9 1/2--Melissa Davidson won two sets in No. 2 singles and teamed with Julie Hoces to win 6-2 in doubles to lead Katella (5-12, 3-7) over Kennedy (7-9, 3-7).

In nonleague girls’ tennis:

No. 6 Troy 15, Garden Grove 3--Michelle Dinh and Nikki Chiazza won in doubles, 7-6, 6-0, 6-3, for Troy (15-0). Garden Grove is 15-3.

In South Coast League girls’ volleyball:

Mater Dei 3, Mission Viejo 0--Lindsay Pavlik had 12 kills and six aces to lead Mater Dei, 15-13, 15-4, 15-9. Katie Beauregard added 10 kills and Delancellotti had nine digs for the host Monarchs (7-1 in league).