Boys water polo: Sailors back in the spotlight

Tony Altobelli

BELMONT SHORES - They’re back.

The Newport Harbor High boys water polo team has returned to a CIF

Southern Section championship match after 13 years and will take on

Foothill for the Division I crown tonight at 7:30 at the Belmont Plaza.

“We have made more appearances in CIF than any other school, but it’s

strange to look back and see that we’ve gone this long without competing

in a title game,” Newport Coach Brian Kreutzkamp said.

The Sailors made the CIF finals their personal playground from

1964-1987, appearing 18 times and capturing 10 titles, their last coming

in 1984.

Following last year’s heartbreaking sudden-death overtime loss to El

Toro in the semifinals, Newport got revenge on the Chargers in this

year’s semis, winning, 12-6.

The Knights, much to the relief of Kreutzkamp, knocked off four-time

Division I champion Long Beach Wilson, 8-4, to reach the finals.

“Wilson would have been shooting for its fifth straight CIF title,

which would have been a CIF record and we would have been playing them in

their home pool,” Kreutzkamp said. “They would have had all the momentum.

At least with Foothill, playing at Belmont is a real neutral site.”

Head to head, it’s the Sailors (28-5) with the momentum. They hold a

2-0 edge over the Knights this year, winning, 10-8 in the third-place

game of the Southern California Tournament and, 11-8, in a nonleague tilt

on Oct. 20.

Both teams have two go-to guys when the offense is in need of a

jump-start.

Newport is led by the 1-2 punch of Peter Belden and Ryan Cook. The

senior scoring tandem has become one of the most prolific scoring duo in

school history.

Going up against the Sailors’ snipers will be Knights’ goalie Ian

Elliott.

“He’s the goalie for the National Junior Team and is one of the

hottest goalies playing right now,” Kreutzkamp said. “It will be our real

good shooters against their real good goalie. Something has to give

here.”

Elliott has allowed only 13 goals combined in the Knights’ three

playoff wins, but has allowed 21 goals in the two losses to Newport.

With most of the focus set on Belden and Cook, Kreutzkamp needs big

games from the remainder of the Sailors’ offense.

“Guys like Steven Jendrusina, Joey Snelgrove and Caine Littrell are

going to have to pick up our offense if we’re going to be successful,”

Kreutzkamp said. “If we get the extra offensive support we need we’ll be

all right.”