Girls water polo: Tars drench Irvine

Tony Altobelli

IRVINE - Learning an important lesson from last year, the Newport

Harbor High girls water polo team knew how important Wednesday’s Sea View

League clash with Irvine was. And the Sailors played like their lives

depended on it.

“We lost to Irvine last year and they went to the CIF finals, while we

lost in the first round,” Newport Co-Coach Bill Barnett said following

his team’s convincing 7-2 win over the host Vaqueros. “We knew how

important this game was for us and the girls played very well today.”

Jenna Booth led the Sailors (11-2), ranked No. 3 in Orange County,

with two goals and two assists, while Katherine Belden added two goals

and one assist. Solo tallies were contributed by Paige Lansing, Annie

Wight and Erin Kelly Bates.

Both teams were sizing each other up in a scoreless first quarter,

before the Sailors’ offense began to heat up.

Following two missed opportunities with a six-on-five advantage,

Newport was awarded a four-meter penalty shot when the Irvine goalie

yanked on her own goal.

Belden took advantage of the situation for a 1-0 Sailors’ advantage

with four minutes remaining in the first half.

Irvine (7-4), No. 4 in the county, tied the game a minute later when

Sarah Hamilton found the back of the net.

Newport marched right down the pool and regained the lead when

Belden’s shot deflected off an Irvine player and into the upper-right

corner of the goal, giving the Sailors the lead for good.

Sailors’ goalie Heather Deyden had eight saves and completely shut

down Irvine’s scoring opportunities, while Newport put some additional

goals on the scoreboard.

“The key to Heather’s success is her mobility,” Barnett said. “She was

in the right position out there and she played very relaxed.”

A Vaqueros’ defensive breakdown led to a breakaway shot for Bates, who

lobbed the ball into the upper-right corner of the goal for a 3-1

advantage.

The Sailors completely shut down the Vaqueros in the third quarter

with an effective offense and an air-tight defense.

Irvine was 0 for 4 with a six-on-five advantage, thanks in large part

to Newport’s pressure.

“We were very mobile on our five-on-six defense,” Barnett said. “We

kept Irvine off-balance and that worked to our favor.”

While the Vaqueros’ offense was stuck in neutral, Newport’s lead grew

to 7-1, thanks to two goals by Booth and goals by Wight and Lansing.

“That was a good run for us,” Barnett said of the third quarter. “We

had a good variety on offense. I was a little disappointed with our

six-on-five offense, but we’ve been struggling with that all season.”

Irvine managed to score late on a goal by Nicole Lorrimer, but the

game was well in hand for Newport.

“This win will give us a higher seeding come CIF playoff time,”

Barnett said. “This was a must win for us and we’re happy to be on the

winning side of this one.”

SEA VIEW LEAGUE

Newport Harbor 7, Irvine 2

Newport Harbor 0 3 4 0 - 7

Irvine 0 1 0 1 - 2

Newport - Booth 2, Belden 2, Wight 1, Bates 1, Lansing 1. Saves -

Deyden 8.

Irvine - Hamilton 1, Lorrimer 1. Saves - Johnson 4.