Sailors take down CdM, finish fifth

IRVINE — Simply put, the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team was tired.

“Tired of losing,” Coach Jason Lynch said. “Every game that we have lost, which is five now, we think we could’ve won every one of them.”

The Sailors have dropped one more match than they did all of last season.

It’s not even November yet.

In order to advance to the fifth-place match at the elite Southern California Tournament Saturday, the Sailors got a boost.

Corona del Mar supplied it.

The two Back Bay rivals met in the morning and Newport Harbor won in convincing fashion, 12-5, at Irvine High.

The margin was so large that the Sea Kings should’ve slept in.

“That was just tough, and coming out in the morning, the shoulders were sore,” CdM’s Nick Klein said.

Newport Harbor (10-5), ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division I coaches’ poll, tired out No. 6 CdM (9-7) even more.

The Sailors fired from the start.

Talk about a balanced attack, the Sailors turned one in during the first 10 minutes, 8 seconds.

Matt Russell, Zach Osadche, David Linden, Jack Yeager and Zach Lucas each scored, giving Newport Harbor a 5-1 lead.

What ignited the outburst that led the Sailors to also beat Harvard-Westlake of North Hollywood, 12-11, in overtime in the afternoon to place fifth in the 16-team tournament?

Losing to Coronado, 6-4, in the second match on Friday, knocking the No. 4-seeded Sailors out of a semifinal appearance Saturday with No. 1 Miramonte of Orinda.

Newport Harbor, the defending CIF Southern Section Division I champion, wanted a piece of the three-time defending CIF North Coast Section champion Matadors.

Instead, the Sailors saw the Sea Kings for the second time this year, which isn’t so bad.

It was for CdM Coach Barry O’Dea.

The Sailors beat CdM at the South Coast Tournament, 10-6, at Newport Harbor, earning them fifth place on Sept. 27.

Newport Harbor turned Saturday’s rematch on a neutral site into a drubbing.

“We had a rough game,” said O’Dea, whose team went on to place eighth after losing to Servite, 12-11, in the afternoon. “We didn’t come out with enough intensity.”

O’Dea attempted to spark his Sea Kings. He yelled at an official making a bad call before halftime.

At one point in the fourth period after Max Bergeson cut CdM’s deficit to four with his third goal, O’Dea rose from his chair.

O’Dea shouted some encouraging words, “Go Max!” He then picked up a water bottle near the pool.

He couldn’t pick up CdM, though, and the coach sat back down.

The Sailors physical play and press defense proved to be too much as they recorded 16 steals.

Lucas, Yeager and Andy Hayes each recorded three steals, helping the offense counterattack.

“Our conditioning definitely wore them down,” said Linden, who finished with a team-high three goals and added two steals. “We were determined to not lose to this team. It would ruin our CIF ranking.”

Linden made sure to keep the Sailors above their crosstown rivals. He scored his team’s first goals in the third and fourth periods.

The one in the final period came on a six-on-five advantage. Linden capitalized, giving the Sailors a 9-4 lead with 5:20 to go.

Lynch was happy to see the Sailors come through after not doing so against Coronado, the defending tournament champion and a team the Sailors beat, 12-5, last month.

“We were pretty upset with ourselves, disappointed with our performance [against Coronado],” said Lynch, whose team was four for 27 shooting against the team from the San Diego Section. “We definitely thought we should’ve won the game.

“A lot of opportunities, we just couldn’t convert.”

The Sailors took advantage against CdM and they stopped the losing.

Southern California Tournament

Fifth-place game

Newoprt Harbor 12,

Harvard-Westlake 11 (OT)

HW – McNamara 6, Bricklin 4, Hartwick 1. Saves – Boggan 15.

NH – Kelly 5, Yeager 4, Russell 2, Lucas 1. Saves – Holbrook 14.

Fifth-place semifinal

Newport Harbor 12,

Corona del Mar 5

CdM – Bergeson 3, Taylor 2. Saves – Anderson 7.

NH – Linden 3, Osadche 2, Russell 2, Kelly 2, Yeager 1, Hayes 1, Lucas 1. Saves – Holbrook 11.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at [email protected].