Newport Harbor girls’ water polo wins CIF Division 2 title after Lynch’s late strike

A three-player senior class is tiny by the standards of the Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team.

Yet nobody who watched Kaela Whelan, Sarah Barker and Jessica Lynch play Saturday at Woollett Aquatics Center could have doubted how much they wanted to go out as CIF champions.

Each of the three-year starters made plays in the final minute of a tight game against Santa Barbara for the CIF Southern Section Division 2 title. First, Whelan forced a ball-under turnover. After the Dons got the ball back and drew a power play, Barker rose up to steal a pass with 10 seconds left.

The biggest shot of the game? That went to the team captain.

Lynch buried the game-winning shot from seven meters with three seconds to go as Newport Harbor outlasted Santa Barbara 4-3 for the Division 2 title, the program’s sixth CIF championship and first since 2012.

Lynch’s shot, after a timeout and a pass from junior goalkeeper Erin Ross, went cleanly into the upper-right corner. Santa Barbara coach Mark Walsh called timeout to set up a play, but goalkeeper Faith Tedesco’s pass skipped past Abigail Hendrix in the final seconds before the Sailors leaped into the water in celebration.

“That’s just one of your picture perfect moments,” the UC Irvine-bound Lynch said of the game-winner, her only goal of the game. “You kind of dream about that all the time as a little kid. I never thought that day would come in a CIF championship, but it did, and it’s awesome.”

The No. 2-seeded Sailors (18-9) took a 3-1 halftime lead but struggled in the second half against the No. 4 Dons (15-14). Lynch’s goal was the only one of the half for Newport Harbor, which failed to convert on all five of its second-half power-play opportunities.

Tedesco had a standout game for the Dons with 10 saves, while UC San Diego-bound senior Georgia Ransone scored a pair of goals in the third quarter for Santa Barbara. Cal-bound senior Grace Raisin scored once and drew three exclusions for the Dons, who converted two of their five power-play chances.

Santa Barbara, which has won the most CIF Southern Section girls’ water polo titles of any program with eight, still failed to add another.

“We made a lot of poor choices with our passes, and we didn’t shoot the ball as well as we normally do,” Dons coach Mark Walsh said. “You don’t count the goal at the very end, we only give up three goals all game. You shouldn’t lose, but we did, because we were poor on offense.”

Whelan, Barker and junior Annie Rankin (four steals) each scored first-half goals for Newport Harbor, playing in Division 2 for the first time in program history.

“All of the seniors scored,” Whelan said. “It just shows that we didn’t have one standout senior or player at all this year. We all are great players who work hard and get the job done … [This CIF run] is something we’ve never gone through before, and we just put our heads to it. We don’t care, [Division] 1, D2, D3 or D7. Defense wins championships.”

Ross made six saves, while juniors Karis Couch and Kili Skibby each had an assist and a steal. Sophomore Emily Cantu drew a fourth-quarter exclusion for the Sailors.

“These girls never gave up,” said Sailors coach Brian Melstrom, in his third year in charge. “It’s big for the program. Even though it’s Division 2, it’s a big crowd, it’s the championship. The younger players now will hopefully have that hunger to get there.”

With former longtime coach Bill Barnett watching in the first row, the Sailors came out on top. Barnett led the team to its first five CIF titles, all in Division 1.

Melstrom said the Sailors deserved the title after winning their last five games against Division 2 opponents, starting with Huntington Beach in the Sunset League finale on Feb. 7.

The last shot was certainly memorable.

“I just let it rip,” Lynch said. “I had to do it for the team. I didn’t think I was going to make it. From my angle, it went over. I didn’t know that it went in until everyone looked at me and started cheering.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo