Newport Harbor, Edison advance to field hockey TOC semifinals
Newport Harbor’s command from the start of its Los Angeles Field Hockey Assn. Tournament of Champions opener Tuesday evening came as no surprise to head coach Amanda Boyer.
More unexpected was how well the Sailors made that count.
Sienna Schneider scored just six minutes in, Emery MacBeth doubled the advantage seconds ahead of halftime, and Newport Harbor, aiming for a seventh TOC title, cruised into the CIF championship-equivalent semifinals with a 3-0 victory in the first playoff meeting with Huntington Beach since the Oilers won it all two years ago.
A dominant display by Bridget Taketa in midfield, in tandem with Schneider, set the tone for the Sailors. They added a Sophia Peca goal early in the fourth quarter and — their defense marshaled admirably by Harper Lohman in the absence of ill back line leader Annie Harmon — didn’t permit the guests a sniff at goal until the deep into the third quarter.
“I told [my team] in the circle, just before we started, that this might be the strongest passing team we’ve ever had, so we what we need to do is capitalize at the goal,” said Boyer, who has guided the Sailors to four TOC championships in a 15-year tenure after leading them to one as a senior 21 years ago. “We’ll get the ball up there but then have a hard time capitalizing sometimes. So I was really glad that they capitalized tonight.”
Second-seeded Edison (11-3-4), the Southern League titlist, also reached the final four. The Chargers toppled visiting Marina, 2-0, on first-half goals by sophomore Hayven Medeiros-Schomberg and junior Maxi Mathwig.
Edison, which won the last of its six titles in 2015, will be home Thursday against third-seeded Bonita (13-5-2), a 3-0 winner over Great Oak.
Newport Harbor heads to Studio City to take on No. 1 Harvard-Westlake (14-2-1), a 2-1 winner over Glendora. The Wolverines have won five of the past six Tournament of Champions titles, beating the Sailors in the 2017 and 2019 finals.
The rivals played to a scoreless draw a month ago at Harbor, which will stage the final and third-place game Saturday afternoon.
Newport Harbor built a 14-0 shot advantage into the second half against Huntington Beach as Taketa and Schneider dictated pace, exploited space and created opportunities against the Oilers’ packed-in defense.
“They really clogged up their back, so it gave me and Sienna and everyone a lot of room to work it around,” said Taketa, one of three Sailors who played in the 2022 title defeat. “One we got into the box, we were able to hit the back of the cage.”
Both first-half goals came from short corners, a dead-ball situation that greatly favors the attackers. Schneider took a pass from Lohman and blasted it off a defender’s stick and into the cage. Then MacBeth niftily finished a Taketa feed at the right post with five seconds to go in the first half, and Huntington Beach, rebuilding with a youthful group, found the hole too deep.
The absence of midfield leader Jessica Flores, who had a conflicting engagement, was pronounced. Forward Natalie Musallem, stepping into the middle, led a late charge, but they couldn’t beat Newport Harbor goalkeeper Lauren Gregory, called upon to make three fourth-quarter saves.
“To have to transition and have new people [in key positions], it took awhile to adjust ...,” Huntington Beach head coach Theresa Moniak said. “I’ve said all season: There’s been really good quarters, where we have to build on our confidence, and it’s a young team. They have a great future.”
Peca made it 3-0 six minutes into the final quarter, firing to the far post from an explosive sequence up the left flank with Sophie Fleischli.
Edison, too, was dominant, but 16 saves by senior goalkeeper Lyle Burdine kept Marina (4-8-3) in the game. Medeiros-Schomberg gave the Chargers a first-quarter lead, lifting a rebound over Burdine and into the net, and Mathwig tallied on a rebound at the left post to make it 2-0 in the second quarter.
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