NEWPORT BEACH – Los Alamitos’ girls water polo team had an answer for No. 9 Newport Harbor at seemingly every turn Thursday night.
The seventh-ranked Griffins scored twice on plays after timeouts. They slowed the Sailors’ ball-side attack by double-teaming the driver.
Coach Dave Carlson even had alumnus and U.S. national team attacker Rachel Fattal on his bench as a “guest” coach to counter the presence of legendary ex-Newport Harbor coach Bill Barnett.
Los Alamitos pulled from those maneuvers a 7-5 victory at Newport Harbor that gave the Griffins sole possession of first place in the Sunset League and a much-needed breakthrough.
“I’ve been waiting the whole season for something to catapult us … and I’m hoping this is it,” Carlson said. “When (we) all play together on defense, (we) can compete. We can get a lot better.”
Los Alamitos (13-9, 3-0) set up another big match – next week against against No. 10 Huntington Beach (15-6, 2-1) – by scoring the go-ahead goal on a timeout play late in the second period. The Griffins sealed the victory with a goal on a similar play coming out of a timeout late in the fourth.
With just over a minute left in the fourth, Newport Harbor (7-12, 2-1) capitalized on an offensive foul by Los Alamitos and cut the Griffins’ lead to 6-5 on a counterattack strike by Lissa Westerman. Los Alamitos called time out and ran off about 20 seconds before junior Calysa Toledo scored off a foul outside 5 meters with 31 seconds left.
Princeton-bound Abbey Blake scored from center to give the Griffins a 4-3 lead with about 1:30 left in the first half. The senior finished with a game-high three goals.
Los Alamitos’ defense forced six turnovers in the fourth and got eight saves in the game from freshman Tara DeBrabander. Lauren Dvonch had two steals in the fourth for the Griffins, and her sister Katie added one.
“Los Alamitos played some really good defense,” Newport Harbor coach Brian Melstrom said.
Also in the Sunset League:
Huntington Beach 10, Edison 3: Sydney Preston scored three fourth-period goals to help the Oilers beat the Chargers for the first time in 10 years.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
