Newport Harbor girls water polo team uses five-goal run in CIF-Southern Section Open Division pool-play match to defeat Foothill for fifth time this season

NEWPORT BEACH – Santa Ana Foothill had explored multiple strategies, experimented with different lineups and exhausted every defensive resource in four regular-season matchups against Newport Harbor, only to come up empty against the Sailors in every showdown.

But the CIF-Southern Section Open Division girls water polo playoffs provided the No. 7 Knights with an opportunity to overcome past frustrations and erase previous disappointments against third-seeded Newport Harbor, and Foothill put itself in a favorable position Wednesday night by playing the Sailors even for the first 16 minutes.

Newport Harbor then regained the edge it had against Foothill throughout the regular season, responding with five unanswered goals in the final four minutes of the third quarter, lifting the Sailors to a 10-7 pool-play victory at Corona del Mar High.

Post-match interviews

Gabby Alexson, a sophomore, had three goals, an assist, a steal and drew four exclusions for Newport Harbor (23-5), which prevailed for the fifth time this year against the Knights (14-13).

Foothill, which received three goals from Ava Rowe, defeated the Sailors three times last season.

Newport Harbor broke a scoreless tie in the final minute of the first quarter on a goal by Caitlin Stayt and UC Santa Barbara-bound senior goalkeeper Lydia Soderberg kept Foothill’s offense off the board for more than eight minutes of the contest.

Despite the Knights’ early struggles, Ashley Kwan and Rowe both scored in the second quarter and Foothill remained tied 2-2 at halftime.

Although Alexson scored the opening goal of the second half, Chloe Patist answered for Foothill to pull even again at 3-3 with 4:11 left in the third.

The Sailors then showcased not only their depth, but the team’s versatility, as five different athletes – Sophia Verdugo, Valery Verdugo, Kylie Robison, Gigi Rimlinger and Alexson – contributed goals during the remainder of the quarter, before Foothill goalkeeper Emma Perrigo scored at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 8-4.

Rowe pulled the Knights to within 8-5 on a 6-on-5 goal with 6:14 left, but Addison Ting and Alexson responded with back-to-back scores for Newport Harbor to regain a five-goal advantage.

Although the Sailors were held scoreless during the final four minutes, Foothill never got closer than the final margin, despite late goals by Kwan and Rowe.

Soderberg recorded eight saves for Newport Harbor, which outscored the Knights by a combined margin of 52-27 in their five matchups this season.

Robison contributed two goals and two assists for the Sailors, who also received two assists apiece from Sutton Harrington, Emerson Mulvey and Valery Verdugo.

Newport Harbor squares off in its final pool-play match against two-time Open Division champion Orange Lutheran (23-3) – a 16-8 pool-play winner Wednesday against Long Beach Wilson – at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Orange Coast College, with the winner advancing to the section final Feb. 22 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Orange Lutheran, the No. 2 seed, prevailed in both regular-season meetings in tournament matchups against Newport Harbor, and has won five consecutive showdowns overall against the Sailors, the 2022 Open Division champion.