Newport Harbor field hockey edges Marina to return to TOC title game

Newport Harbor's Bridget Taketa is celebrated by her teammates after tipping in a goal.

By Matt SzaboStaff Writer

Oct. 28, 2022 3:33 PM PT

The Newport Harbor High field hockey team is used to competing in the Los Angeles Field Hockey Assn. Tournament of Champions title match.

Still, it had been half a decade since the Sailors got that opportunity.

Newport Harbor had its season canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020-21, wiping out an opportunity for what coach Amanda Boyer said was a very strong senior class. Last year, the Sailors lost to Marina in strokes in the first round of the postseason.

Newport Harbor's Lucy Toohey (15) shoots a shot, that was tipped by Bridget Taketa (10), right, for a goal.

Newport Harbor again drew Marina on Thursday night, in a Tournament of Champions semifinal match. A sophomore helped the Sailors move on.

Bridget Taketa scored with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter, tapping in teammate Lucy Toohey’s shot. The goal would stand up, and Newport advanced to its first TOC title match since 2017.

“Before the game we revisited all the seniors have gone through, including COVID and including losing to Marina last year,” Boyer said. “All the hard work they put into the season, they definitely wanted to make it happen this game, so that all that wasn’t for naught ... It feels good to be back in the swing of things. I feel like the girls are resuming their strength.”

Marina's Emmi Burdine, right, moves on the attack as Newport Harbor's Maia Schimmelpfennig tries to steal.

The Sailors (16-7-1) will play rival Huntington Beach (19-1) for the title on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at La Verne Bonita High. The Oilers got to the title match earlier Thursday, earning a 1-0 home win over Bonita behind Melanie Toubin’s goal.

Newport Harbor lost 2-0 to Huntington Beach on Sept. 12 in a preseason match, the teams’ only meeting so far this year.

“We’ve gotten much better,” said Sailors senior stopper Audrey Sharpe, a co-captain along with fellow senior Kate Cherry. “We’re good at working as a team now, so I think we have a really good chance.”

Newport Harbor's Bridget Taketa (10) and Marina's Madelinn Frlekin (5) collide while going for the ball on Thursday.

Jillian Orloff took the fourth-quarter short corner for Newport Harbor on Thursday, injecting the ball so that Toohey could make solid contact.

Senior goalkeeper Makaila Gallardo and defenders Faith Deverian, Samantha Price and Maia Schimmelpfennig — all juniors — helped preserve the Sailors’ sixth straight shutout.

Marina (10-4-2) also got a solid defensive performance from goalkeeper Olivia Streifel along with Giana Ortenzo, Peyton Grasse and freshman Gabrielle DiBenedetto.

Marina's Lauren Rice makes a deep pass at midfield, beginning an attack during Thursday's match.

Marina assistant coach Cynthia Foltz said that last year the Vikings were “homewreckers,” making the TOC for the first time in 10 years and finishing in fourth place.

This time around, they couldn’t score Thursday night despite solid counterattack opportunities from Emmi Burdine.

“They definitely listened to what we wanted in practice, to hit that goal quick,” Foltz said. “I don’t think there’s anything we could have done differently, that’s just the way it landed.”