The cheer started moments after Myna Simmons scored off a pass by Kelsey Tyler to give Orange Lutheran’s girls water polo team a four-goal lead late in the fourth period.
“We are … OLu! We are … OLu” the Lancers’ faithful chanted from the stands at Newport Harbor.
The third-year varsity program came of age Saturday as the No. 5 Lancers upset the No. 3 Sailors, 10-6, with a consistent nonleague effort that could shake up the Division 1 rankings.
Orange Lutheran (21-3) scored the first three goals and never trailed. The Lancers found ways to beat All-County goalie Carlee Kapana (10 saves) and silence Newport Harbor’s top scoring threats.
“This projects our program into that next realm,” said Orange Lutheran coach Steve Carrera, who started one senior, goalie Bailey Meyer, who had 12 saves in arguably her best game.
“I have the highest respect for Newport (13-5), Coach (Bill) Barnett and (Coach Brian) Melstrom. … We want to be top-three every year.”
Simmons gave the Lancers a 10-6 lead with a power-play strike with 2:39 left in the fourth. Simmons also scored from center two minutes earlier and matched Tyler with three goals.
Tyler netted two of Orange Lutheran’s first three goals on near-side strikes, including one off a power-play pass from Emma Skelly. The junior also tossed a high-arching lob shot in off a side-post from 10 meters to narrowly beat the shot clock for a 5-2 lead with 3:58 left in the second.
The Lancers also answered a Newport Harbor goal within a span of 38 seconds or less three times.
So where will Orange Lutheran be ranked in Division 1? “If we win-out, I think we should be third,” Carrera said.
Orange Lutheran isn’t part of next week’s Irvine SoCal Championships, which feature the other top Division 1 contenders. “That tournament usually solves a lot of ranking problems,” said Barnett, whose squad got three goals from Ellie Reid.
Saturday marked Newport Harbor’s first significant test since the Santa Barbara Tournament of Championships two weeks ago. Orange Lutheran was coming of an intense match Tuesday at Mater Dei.
“We weren’t ready for it. We should have been,” Barnett said of the game. “They outhustled us from the start.”
In the Sea View League:
Mission Viejo 8, Laguna Hills 6: Skylar Newhouser snapped a 6-6 tie with a lob from center with 5:05 left and Emilee Feilmeier added a strike from center with 39 seconds remaining to lift the host Diablos (21-4, 5-0).
“This was a rough one,” said Mission Viejo coach Jeff Rach, whose squad also got 11 saves from Tiffany Sims.
Laguna Hills (3-2 in league) tied the score twice in the second half despite playing without Bailey Lloyd (fouled out).
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
