Boys’ Water Polo: Sailors searching for answers

If there is a single thing that would characterize the season of the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team so far this year, it would be the heartbreaking loss.

The Sailors have played several of the other CIF Southern Section Division 1 powers close, but almost always come out on the losing end. They already have seven losses by a single goal.

Another common theme has been starting the game slow. That theme reared its ugly head again Wednesday night in the big Sunset League opener against Huntington Beach.

But this one wasn’t really close at all.

Huntington Beach handed Newport Harbor its most lopsided loss of the year, 11-5, at the Sailors’ pool in a game that will most likely have league title implications.

Newport Harbor (4-12), ranked No. 9 in Division 1, has won five straight league titles. But now the Oilers (11-4), ranked No. 6 in Division 1, appear to have the upper hand.

Like the Sailors, the Oilers recently underwent a coaching change after Brian Anderson resigned last month. It didn’t seem to faze Huntington Beach, which out-muscled Newport Harbor in a physical game and limited the hosts to just two “natural” goals.

“Yes,” Huntington Beach Coach Chris Kaps said simply when asked if he expected Wednesday’s game to be closer. “I’m really, really proud of the boys. It’s all about them in the water. They’re playing together, it’s great team chemistry and they want it.”

Sophomore Ethan Wojciechowski led the visitors with three goals, while Skyler Munatones, Quinten Osborne and James Vlachonassios had two each. Senior keeper Alex Wolf made 12 saves.

The Oilers definitely took advantage of the Sailors’ latest slow start, jumping out to a 6-0 lead midway through the second quarter before Newport senior captain Clay Davison scored.

“That’s huge,” Kaps said. “That’s something that I want this team to be known for, to put pressure on people.”

The Sailors drew within 6-2 early in the third quarter, when Davison converted a penalty shot drawn by freshman Hannes Daube. But the Oilers pulled away again. Osborne scored on a backhand shot from set, then Vlachonassios scored on the counterattack. After Wojciechowski added another goal, Huntington Beach was cruising, 9-2, late in the third quarter.

Davison scored all five goals for Newport Harbor, two of them coming on penalty shots. But Coach Marco Palazzo’s Sailors, coming off Saturday’s Battle of the Bay loss to Corona del Mar, were left searching for answers after suffering their sixth straight loss.

Five of the six losses in the streak have come to teams ranked above the Sailors in Division 1, with the other against Division 2 contender Dana Hills. But they have nevertheless been bad losses, with the Sailors almost always falling behind early.

Against CdM, they were blanked for the first 11-plus minutes of the game. Again on Wednesday night, the Sailors didn’t score for the first 11:51 of the contest. That’s a problem in a sport where regulation lasts just 28 minutes.

“The third quarter strikes and we get this sudden burst of energy, and everyone’s ready to go,” Davison said. “We’re trying to figure out what we can do as a team to have that energy when the game starts ... we shouldn’t be [4-12] right now. We’re capable of hanging in there and beating every team we’ve played so far.

“We just need to all get our heads focused. I don’t know what it is ... We’ll be preparing [before the game], we’ll be hungry, everyone will be so amped up. We get into the water, and everyone just slows down a little bit. Something needs to change. Something needs to change. And it’s not the coaching, it’s us.”

Charlie Padden and Gavin Kunkle were active defensively for the Sailors, with two field blocks each. Senior keeper Nick Wood made three saves before Joe Ferraro subbed in during the fourth quarter and made two saves. It was Ferraro’s first game action since suffering an elbow injury in February.

The frustrations mounted for the Sailors. Late in the third quarter, a Newport defender and Huntington Beach center were both “rolled” (issued game misconduct penalties) concurrently. Before the Newport player left the pool, he threw his cap in the direction of the referee, which also earned him a red card. He will have to miss the Sailors’ next game, which is the opener of the S&R Cup tournament on Friday at Irvine’s Woollett Aquatics Center. Newport Harbor opens the 16-team tournament at 12:10 p.m. Friday, against Miramonte High of Orinda.

Davison said that the tournament, the Sailors’ last of the regular season, offers a good opportunity for the team to turn things around.

The problem is, they may be running out of time.

“We have no more excuses,” Palazzo said. “This game was the league [title game], basically, and it was unacceptable to start like this. We have to change something. We cannot start the Sunset League championship game like that. We just deserved to lose.

“We started playing in the second quarter. It was kind of the same scenario with CdM. We have these ups and downs in the game ... our water polo is kind of like roller coaster water polo. It’s not consistent.”