Newport Harbor girls’ water polo storms to title at Newport Invite
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The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team came out ready to go in the finals of the Newport Invitational on Saturday.
In fact, that’s probably a bit of an understatement.
A stunning start powered the Sailors to an early five-goal lead against top-ranked Mater Dei. Defense then took over in the second half, and Newport Harbor earned a big 12-6 victory at its home pool.
The Sailors won the Newport Invite for the first time since 2022. They appear to have plenty of momentum headed into the CIF Southern Section playoffs, which begin next week.
“We’ve just been working really hard at practice,” senior attacker Kylie Robison said. “We know what we can do, and I think this was just us wanting to prove that we can be one of the top teams. We have this really big opportunity in front of us.”
Junior attacker Emerson Mulvey led Newport Harbor (23-3) with four goals in the tournament final. The Sailors led 6-1 after the first quarter.
Mater Dei closed to within 7-4 late in the first half, but a key power-play goal by Sailors junior Madison Mack pushed the lead to four goals at the break. Robison then assisted a pair of goals early in the third quarter — one by Mulvey and one by junior Kennedy Fahey — as the Sailors established a 10-4 lead.
They blanked the Monarchs in the third quarter and won the game going away.
Fahey’s goal was a quick strike out of center, but Sailors coach Ross Sinclair also highlighted the center defense played by her and sophomore Olivia Bryant.
“For me, it’s just trying not to get in my head as much,” Fahey said. “I’ve played with [Mater Dei sophomore center] Paige [Segesman] a lot, and I know some of her tendencies, but it’s just going in and thinking ‘This is just another center,’ instead of putting her on a pedestal. [I was] just trying to stay in the game more.”
Fahey and sophomore attacker Addison Ting scored a pair of goals for the Sailors in the final, with Bryant and the Verdugo sisters, senior Sophia and her junior sister Valery, tallying one goal each. Senior goalkeeper Sunny Brown made six saves.
Robison and Ting had a pair of assists. Junior center Gabby Alexson drew four exclusions, as well as a penalty shot on the Sailors’ first possession.
“She did a really good job of staying engaged as a center, even though the ball maybe wasn’t being served to her as much as she would like,” Sinclair said. “That’s what happens when you’re a good center, you’re going to have teams try to take that away from us. I thought she got really good, deep position a lot, which makes it really difficult for the zone defense.”
Mater Dei (22-2), which has won the Bill Barnett Holiday Cup and Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions each of the past two years, was also trying to repeat as Newport Invitational champion. Maggie Ryan paced the Monarchs with three goals.
A productive weekend for Newport Harbor included a 12-11 win over Oaks Christian on Friday night, to finish first in its group. Mack scored the game-winner on the power play.
The Sailors then topped San Marcos 15-10 in the tournament semifinals Saturday morning, paced by Alexson, Mulvey and sophomore center Caroline Daniel with three goals each. Valery Verdugo had four assists in the match, while Sophia Verdugo and Robison had two each.
“I think there was definitely a lot of growth, and more importantly, a lot of belief,” Sinclair said. “I think the team is even closer together than they were before, which is I think the biggest thing, the belief in each other to be able to have some success.”
CdM earns third place at Southern California Championships
Across the bay, Corona del Mar was hosting another big tournament on Saturday, the Southern California Championships.
The host Sea Kings finished in third place, rebounding from an 11-8 semifinal loss to JSerra to beat Beckman 7-6 in the third-place match.
“I’m super-proud of my group,” said CdM coach Marc Hunt, whose team continues to work for a spot in the top eight and thus inclusion in the CIF Southern Section Open Division playofs.
Hunt said that sophomore Sawyer Johnson stepped up to play goalkeeper at the tournament, because senior goalie Claire Souderville was in a car accident on Jan. 18 and the Sea Kings’ two backup goalies are also injured. Johnson is normally a field player.
“She’s a good passer and a good athlete,” Hunt said of Johnson.
CdM, which edged Harvard-Westlake 11-10 on Friday night to make the semifinals, could not hold a 7-2 lead in the semifinal against JSerra.
“I thought we got a little complacent,” Hunt said, adding that the Sea Kings were hurt by foul trouble, including two standout players fouling out.
Senior Sareen Sardarian led CdM (16-8) with three goals in the tournament semifinal, with sophomore Camryn Spruill scoring twice.
Sophomore Keira Bethell had three goals for CdM in the tournament third-place match, with Morgan Dollander, Lily Badii and Spruill adding one goal each. Johnson also scored a goal from the goalkeeper position at the end of the first quarter.
Orange Lutheran beat JSerra 13-8 for the Southern California Championships title.
Laguna Beach earned 11th place in the tournament with a 12-4 victory over Los Angeles Marlborough on Saturday. Freshman Resi Leverty led the Breakers (15-11) with four goals, with sophomore Maeve Mani and junior Liv Taub netting three goals each.
