Copyright Los Angeles Times
Newport Harbor heads into CIF Southern Section water polo semifinals with a comprehensive take down of fourth-seeded Oaks Christian, riding a steady attack and defensive dominance for a 12-6 home victory Wednesday evening in a finale to Pool A play in the Open Division. Connor Ohl, Kai Kaneko, Sean Anderson and Dash D’Ambosia scored two goals each for the top-seeded Sailors (28-1), the No. 1 team in the country, which secured its final-four berth in last weekend’s second romp this season over recent nemesis JSerra. A victory next Wednesday at Woollett Aquatics Center against JSerra or Mira Costa, which meet in a “crossover” clash Saturday, would send the defending champions to a record 29th Southern Section title game on Nov. 15 at Mt. San Antonio College. A win in that game, against Pool B winner Corona del Mar, second-seeded Santa Margarita or Oaks Christian, would mean a record 16th CIF championship. The Sailors know what’s expected, but don’t want to get ahead of themselves. “We’re one game at a time, one practice at a time,” said 11th-year head coach Ross Sinclair, who has guided Newport Harbor to Open Division titles in three of the past four seasons and won a Division I title as a sophomore attacker 25 years ago. “We’re not even thinking anything past semis on Wednesday. “The biggest thing for us is having a growth mindset for this next week. There’s still a lot of things that we’ve got to get better at. And we have a week to really get better at that.” Newport Harbor whisked to a 4-0 lead early in the second quarter through defensive pressure that forced eight turnovers and goals from Ohl, Hudson Parks, Caruso Polenzani and Anderson. The Lions rallied within two goals by halftime, and the Sailors finished them off with a four-goal run from two five-meter penalties by Kaneko, Ohl’s extra-man goal and the first of two from D’Ambrosia. Anderson scored another down the stretch, Mason Netzer had a goal and two assists and Geoff Slutzky also tallied. Ohl and D’Ambrosia assisted two goals, and Parks and freshman Owen Marks combined with Ohl to lead the defensive effort. Kane Fogg’s three goals led Oaks Christian (18-9), which bids for a semifinal berth Saturday at Santa Margarita. The Sailors have played in all eight possible top-tier title games since the COVID pandemic — four Open finals and four in CIF Southern California Regional Division I. They beat Huntington Beach for the sectional and Mater Dei for the regional titles in 2021 and then won two of three Open Division showdowns with JSerra, but have fallen to the Trinity League’s Lions in the past three regional championships. Sectional titles, across all sports, tend to trump regional success — “CIF is the pinnacle,” Sinclair said, but Newport Harbor wants both. It was unbeaten last year until the regional defeat. “Me personally, it put a damper [on the season],” said Ohl, a two-time All-CIF selection headed to Stanford. “But at the same time, CIF Southern Section was what we wanted last year. ... Regionals is important to me this year. This year I want to win everything. I want to win CIF. I want to win regionals. I think it’s important. We could really go out with a bang if we do that.” Ohl and Kaneko spearhead a senior-driven group that has averaged 14 goals a game while surrendering seven or fewer goals in 18 of 29 games against one of the toughest schedules in the country. There’s a legacy to live up to, and the Sailors take that seriously. “You’re given so much here,” said the Stanford-bound Kaneko, a Mater Dei transfer who shared the Open Division Player of the Year honor last year. “We’ve got probably the best coaching, the best atmosphere, and there’s always this responsibility of going out and giving your hardest. It’s always been Newport’s way. The responsibility isn’t winning. Yeah, we win, but I think the responsibility is more having this blue-collar mentality and working hard.” Ohl saw it when he arrived and was immediately accepted within the group. “That’s the Newport culture right there,” he said. “Just acceptance and how we stick together. And when we stick together, we can do anything.”
