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Kapana shines for Sailors

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Bill Barnett has been coaching at Newport Harbor High for 49 years, and Friday was billed as his last Battle of the Bay rivalry game against Corona del Mar.

But Barnett, who has announced that he’s retiring after this girls’ water polo season, was not on the pool deck that he’s manned since 1966. Instead, Sailors assistant coach Brian Melstrom said that Barnett was in the hospital, with an infection in the hip that he had replaced earlier this year.

“I guess there’s some swelling and an infection inside,” Melstrom said. “As far as I know, he was going to be getting surgery [Friday].”

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Melstrom found out about 90 minutes before game time that Barnett wouldn’t be there. He let the Sailors players know.

Newport Harbor did not have its head coach, but it still had the goalie who many call the best prep girls’ goalie in the country.

Senior Carlee Kapana went above and beyond against CdM. She made 15 saves, including one in the final seconds, as Newport Harbor escaped with a 5-4 win for its first Battle of the Bay victory since 2010.

“I think it’s the best game I’ve ever seen her play,” Melstrom said of the UCLA-bound Kapana, who also had four steals. “Hands down, the best game she’s ever played for us. She got the high shot, she got the low shot, she got the near-corner shot. She got them all.”

Newport Harbor (3-1), ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division 1, certainly had the answers on defense against No. 4 CdM (2-1). The Sea Kings went just one for eight in power-play situations.

“They’re really active on the posts, and they like to move a lot,” said Sailors senior defender Rachel Whitelegge, also bound for UCLA. “I think that lately we’ve been really working on not getting too comfortable with one player, making sure that our head’s on a swivel and we know what’s happening around us.”

The score was tied 2-2 at halftime, with senior lefty Isabel Leveque (Marist College) and senior center Chanel Schilling (UC San Diego) scoring for the Sailors. Both of CdM’s co-captains, Princeton-bound senior Eliza Britt and junior Maddie Musselman, scored for the Sea Kings.

But Newport Harbor took control early in the third quarter. Whitelegge struck from six meters with the shot clock running down. On the next possession, senior lefty Ellie Reid fired one in from outside, giving the Sailors a 4-2 lead with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter.

That score held up until the fourth quarter. Even CdM’s one six-on-five goal was a bit lucky, as Britt scored it off a field block with 5:19 remaining in regulation to bring the Sea Kings within one. But Newport immediately answered on its own power play. CdM left Sailors junior Katie Kearns open, almost daring her to shoot it.

Kearns made the Sea Kings pay, burying a shot into the right corner to again give Newport a two-goal advantage.

CdM again threatened. Musselman scored from center with 41 seconds left, and CdM got the ball back. Coach Ross Sinclair called timeout with eight seconds to go to set up a play.

Musselman was fouled outside of five meters, but her subsequent low shot was handled by Kapana.

Of the four goals that Kapana allowed, one was the fortunate bounce off the field block and another was a rebound goal.

“Kapana was sensational,” Sinclair said. “She was great. That’s what she’s capable of doing ... she’s a world-class goalie and she’s a good kid. I told my girls, ‘Sometimes it doesn’t go your way, and you just tip your cap.’

“I told Maddie to shoot low, and she shot low. And Carlee blocked it. She was in the zone.”

Britt had a solid game for the Sea Kings, with the two goals, three steals and five exclusions drawn. Musselman had two goals and four steals, and junior goalie Heidi Ritner made three saves.

Senior Emma Erickson had three steals for Newport Harbor, which converted two of its three extra-player opportunities.

The Sailors have another tough test Tuesday, when they play at top-ranked Laguna Beach at 3:30 p.m. The game is a rematch of last year’s CIF Southern Section Division 1 title game, won by Laguna, 10-7.

“It’s a good boost in confidence that we won this game,” Kapana said. “Going into Laguna, I feel like we’re more confident than we were before. They’re really good, but we’re going to try our best.”

Newport Harbor doesn’t know when Barnett will be back. To see the action from what was supposed to be his final Battle of the Bay game, he’ll have to watch it on video.

“It was hard to not have him here, because it’s his last year,” Whitelegge said. “It really brought us more like, this is for him. We needed to show him that everything he’s taught us is working, and that he’s made a mark on us forever.”

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