Newport Harbor girls water polo team steps up on defense in second half to secure CIF-Southern Section Open Division victory against Long Beach Wilson

NEWPORT BEACH – Even with the new pool-play format this season in the CIF-Southern Section Open Division girls water polo playoffs, Newport Harbor is still treating every match as if it is a single-elimination contest, requiring the third-seeded Sailors to string together four consecutive victories in order to capture their first title since 2022.

Newport Harbor relied on that urgency in the second half Thursday night against No. 6 Long Beach Wilson, holding the Bruins scoreless for a 10-minute stretch and responding with four unanswered goals to produce a 12-8 victory at Corona del Mar High.

Post-match interviews

Long Beach Wilson (19-8) rallied to tie it at 6-6 with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter on a goal by junior Reece Haga, only for senior Sutton Harrington to respond with back-to-back scores less than a minute apart for Newport Harbor (22-5).

Olivia Garcia’s goal for the Bruins cut the deficit to 8-7 with 3:22 left in the third, but Gabby Alexson and Sophia Verdugo responded by scoring before the end of the quarter, and the Sailors added goals early in the fourth from Emerson Mulvey and Madison Mack to establish their biggest lead of the match.

Mulvey finished with a team-high three goals for Newport Harbor, which had nine players score.

Lydia Soderberg, a UC Santa Barbara-bound senior goalkeeper, recorded eight saves and limited Long Beach Wilson to only two goals in the final 12:30 of the contest, including Angeliki Arroyo scoring for the Bruins with 22 seconds remaining to account for the final margin.

Harper Price, Addison Ting, Valery Verdugo and Kylie Robison also contributed goals for Newport Harbor, which never trailed in the contest.

Robison added three assists, with Ting producing two assists and two steals for the Sailors, who held a 6-5 halftime advantage.

After Haga and Arroyo helped Long Beach Wilson overcome a 5-3 deficit in the second quarter to tie the score in the final minute of the opening half, Ting helped the Sailors regain momentum on her lone goal with 36 seconds remaining.

Cici DeLuca and Garcia both scored twice for the Bruins, who forced five ties during the match, the last one coming after Haga’s goal in the third.

Newport Harbor won its third consecutive matchup against Long Beach Wilson and prevailed for the ninth time in the past 10 meetings with the Bruins.

The Sailors are scheduled to square off Feb. 12 against Santa Ana Foothill (14-12) – which endured a 14-4 pool-play setback Thursday against two-time reigning Open Division champion Orange Lutheran (22-3) in its playoff opener – in the fifth meeting among the programs this season.

After losing three times to the Knights last year, Newport Harbor won all four regular-season showdowns against Santa Ana Foothill, including three victories in tournaments.