Newport Harbor boys’ water polo keeps Elite Eight crown
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STUDIO CITY — The Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team was challenged Saturday at the Elite Eight tournament.
Rival Corona del Mar led the Sailors after a quarter of the semifinal match. Then, Cathedral Catholic played Newport Harbor even for a half in the championship.
The Sailors don’t really seem to let a lot faze them, though.
“We know that when you’re at the top, it’s you versus everybody,” Newport Harbor senior Connor Ohl said. “If we’re getting pushed by these teams and we’re breaking away from each other, of course we’re not going to win. But we come together in moments like those, and we’re just able to dominate.”
It was three quick goals to start the second half that created separation against Cathedral Catholic, and the Sailors went on to win 14-13 at Harvard-Westlake.
It’s the second straight Elite Eight title for top-seeded Newport Harbor, and third in four years.
Ohl, who fouled out in the previous meeting against Cathedral Catholic in the South Coast Tournament title match, came out aggressive Saturday and netted five goals. His fellow Stanford commit, senior Kai Kaneko, scored four times for the Sailors (18-0).
Newport Harbor took a 6-3 lead in the second quarter against the Dons, but Cathedral Catholic responded with three straight goals — two by Max Arnold — to knot the score at halftime.
The Sailors answered quickly out of the break. Dash D’Ambrosia fed Kaneko for a power-play goal, then Sean Anderson struck on a cross-pass from Mason Netzer.
Ohl then drew a penalty shot in transition, and Kaneko put it away for a 9-6 lead with 4:46 remaining in the third quarter.
Cathedral Catholic coach Tommy Corcoran, whose team has pushed the Sailors at times this year but lost each of the three meetings, suggested that his squad needs to win first, before it can be called a rivalry.
“Stop the bleeding,” he said when asked what the Dons need to change. “They’re known to go on runs. They have a bunch of phenomenal athletes, but we made a little run and immediately gave up two or three. We’d score a goal, and they’d score one right back. It’s not rocket science. You don’t give up goals after you score, and we did that way too much … Newport’s a machine.”
The Sailors led 14-10 in the fourth quarter before Cathedral Catholic scored three late goals.
Anderson netted a pair of goals for the Sailors while D’Ambrosia, Netzer and senior center Geoff Slutzky each scored one. Senior goalkeeper Connor Clougherty made eight saves, including a finger-tip deflection midway through the third quarter on a backhand attempt.
“I thought the guys lifted to a next level of intensity in that third quarter, which was great,” Sailors coach Ross Sinclair said. “We kind of got a little more focused on the defensive side, some little details we had to fix. They did a good job of being able to adapt and adjust, and ultimately execute, which was really good to see.”
Newport Harbor pulled away for a 14-9 win against Corona del Mar in the semifinals.
Kaneko and Ohl each scored four goals, with Marco Rizof and Hudson Parks each netting two. Anderson and Caruso Polenzani also got into the scoring column.
Bryan Shapirshteyn scored three goals for CdM (16-5), with Grant Christian and Nathan Simoncelli each scoring twice. Koosha Mirrafati and Will Weir also scored, and senior goalkeeper Ben Kubichek made seven saves.
The Sea Kings, who were seeded seventh in the eight-team Elite Eight, finished a strong fourth after falling 19-17 in overtime to Miramonte in the third-place match.
“I think at the beginning of the season, we spun our wheels a little bit, but the boys have really buckled down and they’ve been playing fantastic,” CdM coach Lucas Reynolds said. “I’m really proud of the way they’ve been playing this weekend.”
The tournament semifinal between the Back Bay rivals offered a bit of a preview of Wednesday night, when Corona del Mar plays at Newport Harbor in the Battle of the Bay match at 5 p.m.
The Sailors are 4-0 in the Sunset League headed into the match, while the Sea Kings are 3-0.
“It’s going to mean even more, because it’ll be the first time that CdM is coming to our new pool,” Ohl said. “That’s just going to be added motivation for everybody. They’re coming into our home. Last year, we went to their pool, but now they’re at ours. It’s our new pool, and we just have to defend it.”
