Sailors just miss in title game after ripping CdM

They went double overtime, and into three sudden death overtimes,

and Foothill High’s Knights reign as Tournament of Champions for the

third straight year at UC Santa Barbara.

And the Knights are one-up on Newport Harbor High’s Sailors in the

race for the Sea View League girls water polo championship.

But as anyone who has seen these two rivals will tell you, it’s

not over, yet.

There is still the Southern California Invitational, and more

importantly, a date at Foothill in the league play Feb. 12, as well

as down the road at Belmont Plaza where the CIF Division I

championship will be settled.

It also wasn’t over as the two powerhouses began the fourth

quarter Saturday evening at UCSB with Newport Harbor holding an 8-5

lead.

Foothill, now 17-0, fought back for three goals, the tying marker

coming with 2:09 left.

Flurries ensued, but goalies Terin Cottam of Newport Harbor and

Emily Feher of Foothill refused entry and it went to overtime.

Both teams scored in the first of two overtime periods, and both

teams went scoreless in two sudden death periods, only to see

Foothill get the big break on an ejection in the two-meter area, then

the big payoff as Gabbie Dominic passed to Brittany Hayes, who sent

the shot in with 1:47 left.

Hayes led all scorers with six goals, and Newport’s Jenna Murphy

(four goals) and Annie Wight (three goals) were the pacesetters.

While Hayes, Jillian Krause and Dominic were three of Foothill’s

brightest, as was Murphy and Wight, along with Raelyn Ritchie and

Anne Belden (each scored a goal), perhaps the most spectacular

efforts came from the goalkeepers, Feher and Cottam. Each had 14

saves.

Newport is now 15-3.

The game consumed 90 minutes, and although the Knights continue to

reign, clearly the message is there: It’s not over, yet.

In the third-place game, Corona del Mar (13-4), which dropped a

9-4 decision to Newport Harbor in the semifinals, fell to Santa

Margarita, 7-3.

Saturday’s semifinal found Newport Harbor gaining a big measure of

satisfaction over its Back Bay rival.

Newport avenged a 6-5 defeat last month to CdM. The Sailors got

two goals each from Jessica Ball, Carolyn Conway, Paige Lansing and

Wight while Murphy tallied a single goal en route to the five-goal

margin of victory.

Danielle Carlson and Brittany Bowlus, bound for UCLA, each scored

two goals for the Sea Kings.

This time CdM finished second in every quarter as Newport

reestablished is reputation as No. 1 in the Back Bay.

Newport went 3 for 3 on six-on-five advantages and had 12

ejections to CdM’s three.

Ritchie had four steals to lead Newport while Belden collected

three. Murphy tallied three assists and Newport goalkeeper Cottam

made eight saves along with one assist and one steal.

CdM’s Brittany Fullen made three saves in goal.

Tournament of Champions

Semifinal

Newport Harbor 9, Corona del Mar 4

Score by Quarters

Corona del Mar 1 1 1

1 -- 4

Newport Harbor 3 2 2

2 - 9

CdM -- Carlson 2, Bowlus 2. Saves -- Fullen,

3.

Newport -- Ball 2, Conway 2, Lansing 2, Wight 2, Murphy

1. Saves -- Cottam, 8.

Final

Foothill 10, Newport Harbor 9

Score by Periods

Newport 4 2 2 0

1 0 0 0 0

- 9

Foothill 1 4 0 3

1 0 0 0 1

- 10

Newport Harbor -- Murphy 4, Wight 3, Belden 1, Ritchie

1. Saves -- Cottam 14.

Foothill -- Hayes 6, Krause 2, Reynolds 1, Dominic 1.

Saves -- Feher 14.