Newport Harbor boys’ water polo caps remarkable season with SoCal Regional title
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WALNUT — It might seem counterintuitive to talk about raising the bar at a program that just captured its record 16th CIF Southern Section title.
But those who have followed the journey of this year’s Newport Harbor boys’ water polo senior class would understand why coach Ross Sinclair said they have done just that.
The Sailors beat San Diego Cathedral Catholic 14-12 on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I title match, wrapping up another remarkable season.
Newport Harbor backed up its second straight CIF Southern Section Open Division title and finished the season 33-1. The Sailors went 66-2 over the last two years.
“Not only have they bought into what the guys before them did, but I think they raised the bar,” Sinclair said. “That’s really hard to do. There’s got to be a lot of trust in them with myself. Again, it’s hard. It’s a grind. There’s days where they probably are going, ‘This is intense, this is hard.’ But they’ve fully trusted myself, the coaching staff and each other. They bought into the expectation of the program and they raised the bar.
“They pushed each other every day, and they love each other. You can tell. It’s a joy.”
Stanford-bound senior Kai Kaneko led with four goals on Saturday in the regional final. Fellow Stanford commit Connor Ohl scored three goals. Senior center Geoff Slutzky, bound for Harvard, and UC Santa Barbara commit Dash D’Ambrosia added two goals each.
Slutzky had a standout all-around game, drawing five exclusions and three penalty shots, as the Sailors beat Cathedral Catholic for the fifth time in six meetings this season and earned their first regional title since 2021.
The Dons had topped the Sailors in a nonleague match on Oct. 11. But Newport Harbor won the teams’ first nonleague meeting, also adding victories over Cathedral Catholic in the South Coast, Elite Eight and North vs. South Challenge tournament finals.
“That was probably the most needed loss I’ve ever had,” Kaneko said of the Sailors’ lone setback this season. “I just think we were a completely different team after that. Maybe not tactically, but the energy in practice, the energy off the bench. We kind of realized after that game that everyone has a role, whether you’re in the pool or out of the pool.”
Santa Clara-bound senior goalkeeper Connor Clougherty made 12 saves in Saturday’s regional final, including one on a penalty shot.
Newport Harbor led 10-9 heading into the fourth quarter but opened up the lead as Cal-bound senior left-handed attacker Mason Netzer, Slutzky and Kaneko (penalty shot) scored successive goals. Cathedral Catholic responded with back-to-back strikes from Jett Taylor and a counterattack goal by Diego Dantas to pull within 13-12 with 2:13 remaining.
The Sailors were undaunted, however.
“When things go good, we get close, and when things go bad we get even closer,” D’Ambrosia said. “Being together and playing as a whole was great.”
Clougherty made a fingertip save off a Cathedral Catholic perimeter shot with about a minute remaining. On the other end, Ohl’s shot was saved by the Dons’ goalie, but that gave Newport Harbor the ball back. Kaneko rifled in a long-range shot for the final goal.
U.S. Navy senior commits Declan Bartlett and Hudson Parks added one goal each for the winners.
Slutzky said it was a great way to finish up with a group that he’s been playing with for more than a decade.
“To have that pay off with a legacy now that people can look back on and say, ‘Wow, that was a special thing that we did out there,’ it’s a great feeling,” he said. “It’s very satisfying to think about that.”
The season-ending victory concluded a long day for Sinclair, who had coached the Newport Harbor girls to a 13-9 win in their season opener at Marina earlier Saturday.
Sinclair’s oldest daughter Avalon, who turned 8 years old on Monday, lifted the championship plaque with the boys’ team after the final buzzer.
“She knows in this tournament, if we make it [to the finals] she gets to go on the bus, she gets to be on the bench,” Ross Sinclair said with a smile. “[The players] set good examples for work ethic and being respectful. We’re super-fortunate. It is a family, this group, this program.”
