Sailors in driver’s seat

The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team converted all three of its power-play opportunities Wednesday night, and that wasn’t by accident.

The Sailors have really been preparing all season for their Sunset League opener against rival Los Alamitos. So, when the Griffins dropped their wing defenders onto the post while down a player Wednesday night, Newport Harbor took advantage.

Senior defender Rachel Whitelegge scored all three of the Sailors’ six-on-five goals, all from the “one” spot on the left side.

Now Newport Harbor has a leg up for the No. 1 spot in league.

Two of Whitelegge’s power-play strikes came in the fourth quarter, as Newport Harbor pulled away for a 7-3 victory against the defending league champion Griffins.

The teams have placed first and second in the league each time since the Sailors joined it in 2006. Newport Harbor has six league titles in that time, and Los Alamitos two, including last year. Winning the league title is also important for CIF Southern Section Division 1 seeding purposes.

This year, the Sailors’ efficiency in that six-on-five offense helped them get on track for their third league title in four years.

“[Whitelegge’s] got one person to shoot the ball through,” Newport assistant coach Brian Melstrom said. “That was our whole plan, get the ball to Rachel, walk it in and shoot it around your one shot-blocker. That gave us the best percentage chance to score the ball, and she did, which was nice to see. She’s very good at the getting the ball under the arm, and she shoots it hard too.”

The game was within one goal most of the way. Newport Harbor (7-3), ranked No. 3 in Division 1, did take a 4-2 lead in the third quarter. Senior center Chanel Schilling spun toward the goal and made a cross pass to senior lefty Ellie Reid, who buried the shot with 5:30 remaining in the quarter.

But Los Alamitos (10-3), ranked No. 5 in Division 1, again pulled within a goal when senior Sarah Siepker scored a quick shot from about six meters off a foul.

The fourth quarter, though, was all Newport Harbor. Senior captain Kate Pipkin drew an exclusion on a counterattack, and this led to a Whitelegge goal with 3:44 remaining in the game. On the Sailors’ next possession, Schilling scored from two meters on a pass from senior defender Isabel Leveque, and Newport Harbor suddenly had a 6-3 lead.

Pipkin assisted Whitelegge’s final power-play goal, again from the same spot, with 1:19 remaining in the game.

“You just kind of have to hold the ball for a second,” Whitelegge said. “You don’t have a great angle, but you have less people in front of you to block the ball. You just have to find that pocket, and you have to hit the pocket perfectly. We ran an offense against that kind of defense for the past five practices, I think, and I think that really helped getting the accuracy down.”

Siepker had four steals for the Griffins, while Lauren Dvonch and Karley Kraft also scored. Senior goalie Kennedy Joseph made six saves.

Katie Kearns led Newport Harbor with four steals, while Pipkin and Whitelegge each had two. Senior goalie Carlee Kapana made 10 saves, her fourth straight double-digit save effort. All four games have been against teams ranked in the top seven of Division 1.

Kapana also had an assist, one of six helpers on the night for the Sailors in a well-balanced effort.

That theme of everybody contributing has been the norm. Through 10 games, the Sailors have nobody averaging as many as two goals per contest. Their scoring leaders are Whitelegge (18 goals), Schilling (17), Kearns (15) and Reid (14).

“We don’t have to try incredibly hard to be that superstar,” Whitelegge said. “We know that we can rely on each other, and we can always work together. We don’t have to be afraid that if we pass it one girl, it’s going to be stolen. I think we’re really confident that we’ll help each other, at the end of the day. We know that the pass will be there, and we can feel comfortable with her taking the shot or dumping the ball, because she knows what she’s doing.”

Newport Harbor plays host to The Bishop’s School of La Jolla on Saturday at 11 a.m., before resuming Sunset League play Jan. 14 against Edison.

“That was our whole plan, get the ball to Rachel (Whitelegge), walk it in and shoot it around your one shot-blocker. That gave us the best percentage chance to score the ball, and she did, which was nice to see.”

Newport assistant coach Brian Melstrom