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NEWPORT BEACH — Newport Harbor’s boys water polo team is practicing and playing exclusively on the road this fall as its on-campus pool receives a well-earned makeover.
The displacement certainly hasn’t affected the squad’s defense.
The Sailors held rival JSerra to its lowest scoring output since 2022 in snapping the Lions’ 40-match winning streak with a 14-6 victory in the finals of the South Coast Tournament at Corona del Mar High.
“It was the best I’ve ever seen it so far this year,” Newport Harbor senior goalie Luke Harris said of the defense.
“I just saw a whole bunch of shot blocks up and I felt super-confident in the cage to know my team had my back and they were funneling the ball to me really well. … It made it easier for me, and I think that really helps our defense be super strong.”
Newport Harbor (9-0) displayed its mobility on defense by pressing and dropping extra coverage to center.
Senior Weston Hartel stood out with five steals off the bench before netting a pair of goals late in the game. Connor Ohl added two steals and a field block.
The Sailors, ranked No. 1 in Orange County, held No. 2 JSerra (7-1) to two goals on penalty shots and one on the counterattack before the Lions’ Taylor Bell skipped in a shot on the counterattack with 23 seconds left in the third period.
So for almost three periods, Newport Harbor allowed only one natural goal.
“We were active, which was great,” Newport Harbor coach Ross Sinclair said of his defense. “I’m super proud of the guys. They’ve worked hard up to this point. JSerra, even Harvard-Westlake, has a couple guys injured, which is tough. It’s the early part of the season, and we’re going to play these guys a bunch … We have to keep improving.”
Newport Harbor made its move offensively in the final two minutes of the first half after Ohl left with his second foul. Attacker Kai Kaneko scored a power-play goal for a 5-3 lead with 1:46 remaining.
Center Geoff Slutzky later drew an exclusion and netted added another power-play goal off a quick pass from Hartel to push the lead to 6-3 with 29 seconds left.
Newport Harbor then scored the first four goals of the second half for a 6-0 run and sprinted to its first South Coast crown since 2018.
Kaneko finished with a match-high five goals (three penalty shots) while fellow junior Slutzky added three goals. Slutzky also drew two exclusions and two penalties.
Lucca Van Der Woude, a transfer from Harvard-Westlake, added two goals and drew two penalties for Newport Harbor.
The Sailors started slowly on the power play but finished 6 for 11. On defense, they held the Lions to a 1 for 7 effort with the extra attacker.
Newport Harbor went 0-4 against JSerra last season, including a 16-10 loss in the CIF-SS Open Division final.
“Everyone really wanted to win after last year,” said Harris, who finished with eight saves. “This (win) is the best feeling. It’s what we’ve wanted to do. It’s one of our goals. But honestly, it’s not just (about) their team. It’s our whole goal is to take one game at time and just make sure we play to the best our ability every single game.”
Both teams were missing players because of sitout period for transfers. The Lions also had three players out with injuries.
Sophomore Peter Birdsall scored three goals to pace JSerra, which suffered its first loss since the 2022 Open Division final against Newport Harbor. The Lions went 30-0 last season behind Olympic bronze medalist Ryder Dodd, now at UCLA.
“We clearly had not prepared well enough,” JSerra coach Brett Ormsby said. “It’s good to get that plain and straight forward feedback. Now we have an opportunity to go back to training and try to improve our approach.”
Newport Harbor and JSerra could next meet at the Elite 8 tournament at Harvard-Westlake in early October.
