The Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high school boys’ water polo teams had not met in the playoffs in 12 years.
A large contingent of fans packed the CdM pool deck on Saturday at high noon, ready for a Battle of the Bay showdown with much on the line.
In the end, it was a stingy Sailors defense that led to a dynamic offense.
That formula has been impossible for opponents to crack this season, and the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoff semifinal match was no exception.
“What it seems to have been like every single game this season is maybe a team will give us a little trouble in the first half, but that second half we’re always going to step on their throats,” Sailors senior goalkeeper Luke Harris said. “They’re not going to be able to hang with us.”
Newport Harbor’s Geoff Slutzky (15), shown competing earlier this season, scored a match-high five goals on Saturday.
(James Carbone)
Junior center Geoff Slutzky scored five goals as the top-seeded Sailors pulled away for a 14-6 victory, booking their spot in the Open Division title match on Nov. 16 at Mt. San Antonio College.
For the third straight year, the opponent there will be No. 2-seeded JSerra. The Lions edged Oaks Christian, 13-12, in another semifinal match.
JSerra is the defending Open Division champion, though Newport Harbor won the teams’ CIF finals matchup two years ago.
Undefeated Newport Harbor (30-0) is in the title match of the top CIF division for the sixth straight time since 2018.
“It’s just a testament to everyone that’s involved in this program, the coaching staff, parents, players, community,” Newport Harbor coach Ross Sinclair said.
Kai Kaneko scored three goals for Newport Harbor on Saturday, while fellow juniors Connor Ohl and Mason Netzer each scored twice, with Netzer adding three assists.
Senior Lucca Van Der Woude and junior Dash D’Ambrosia each added a goal for the Saillors, and Harris shined in the cage with 12 saves and three steals before giving way to backup Connor Clougherty in the fourth quarter.
Senior goalkeeper Luke Harris, left, and juniors Connor Ohl and Mason Netzer were some of the key contributors Saturday for Newport Harbor.
(Matt Szabo)
Corona del Mar (25-6), coming off an upset road win over No. 4 Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday night, made it a game for a half. Koosha Mirrafati struck on a power-play goal with 13 seconds left in the second quarter, pulling the Sea Kings within 5-3.
But Newport Harbor’s Ohl scored at the halftime buzzer out of a seven-on-six situation.
“I think they just felt defeated after that moment,” Ohl said. “After that goal, their energy was way lower, they just weren’t as motivated to try and win. All the energy they just got from [their] goal is just gone. It’s really hard to get excited during that halftime break, after you just got scored on in that fashion.”
The Sailors went on to blank the Sea Kings 5-0 in the third quarter to take control of the match, on their way to beating their rivals for the third time this season and the 17th straight time overall.
Nathan Simoncelli and Micah Grantham each scored two goals to pace CdM, with Grantham contributing a trio of field blocks on defense.
“They’re just a really strong team,” first-year CdM head coach Lucas Reynolds said of the rival Sailors. “They’re fresh and they turn it over on transition. They have a really high level of awareness and get out on the counterattack, draw a ton of exclusions. I think we did a pretty good job in the first half. It was that third quarter that got away from us, and it all happened on transition.”
Micah Grantham (9) of Corona del Mar, shown playing earlier this season, scored twice for the Sea Kings on Saturday.
(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)
Sinclair made sure to give props to Reynolds, who like him is a teacher on campus at his respective alma mater. The Sea Kings graduated six starters, yet found a way to make it back to the Open Division semifinals for the second straight year.
Now Newport Harbor also finds itself in a familiar position — namely, playing for the 15th CIF championship in program history.
“Credit to [CdM], they had a great team this year,” Harris said. “Their coaching was really good, and they all played really well and balanced. It’s the best thing we could have had, because there was so many people in the stands today. It was really just that championship environment, preparing us for the finals, really.”