Newport Harbor Gets Good Result

It was the result Newport Harbor wanted, just not exactly how Coach Bill Barnett drew it up in the playbook.

A scramble in front of the Corona del Mar goal in the final seconds ended with Newport Harbor senior Erin Ball scoring as the buzzer sounded to give the Sailors, ranked fourth in the county, an 8-7 victory over the fifth-ranked Sea Kings in a nonleague girls’ water polo game Friday at Corona del Mar High.

It was Ball’s only goal of the game, but she had a team-high five steals and three assists. Katherine Belden, Paige Lansing and Jenna Booth each scored twice for the Sailors.

Almost everything went wrong during the Sailors’ final offensive sequence, except the fact that Ball scored.

First, Booth’s shot from the perimeter was knocked down by Corona del Mar’s Christina Hewko. Although Lansing hustled to retrieve the rebound to the right of the goal, her pass in front to teammate Erin Kelly Bates went off Bates’ fingertips.

But Ball managed to track down the loose ball just in time for one more shot.

“I was just praying it would go somewhere near the cage,” Ball said.

Newport Harbor struggled to find the goal in the first half. The Sailors had four second-quarter shots hit the crossbar or goal posts.

But Newport Harbor goalie Heather Deyden, who had nine saves, helped keep the Sailors (4-1) close as the Sea Kings (5-2) moved to a 3-2 lead on Danielle Carlson’s goal with 1:08 remaining in the second quarter.

“I told the girls we were getting plenty of opportunities,” Barnett said, “we just hadn’t put it in the cage.”

Booth scored twice in a 58-second span to help Newport Harbor score three consecutive goals to take a 5-3 lead with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter. But Corona del Mar outscored Newport Harbor, 4-1, in the next eight minutes.

Hewko, who had two goals, sent a pass across the pool to Carlson, who scored her second goal of the game, tying the score, 6-6, on a six-on-five opportunity with 3:34 remaining. Then Daniela Digiacomo scored off a rebound with 2:36 remaining to put the Sea Kings ahead, 7-6.

But Newport Harbor got the tying goal after Annie Wight drove to the goal and drew an ejection from Carlson. Belden converted the four-meter penalty shot for a 7-7 tie with one minute remaining, setting the stage for Ball’s heroics.