Newport Harbor escapes with victory in double sudden-death

A long, last-second heave at the end of regulation almost sank Newport Harbor's girls water polo team for the second time Friday.

"Lightning strikes again," someone shouted from the pool deck.

Almost. The nearly full-court shot from Laguna Beach's Lexie del Toro landed a few yards short of the Sailors' goal at the end of regulation, and the Division 1 contenders took their match into overtime.

Then they headed to a second period of sudden death.

Elissia Schilling completed Newport Harbor's escape by scoring on backhanded shot from center with 43 seconds left in the second sudden-death overtime to lift the No. 2 Sailors to an 11-10 victory against the No. 5 Breakers.

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Schilling's winning shot was similar to her victory-sealing, backhander last week in a 9-7 triumph against Los Alamitos. But Laguna Beach's last-second chance in the fourth period almost provided a similar ending to Corona del Mar's early-season victory against Newport Harbor when Sea Queens goalie Alex Musselman tossed in a length-of-the-pool shot on an open goal for a 6-5 victory.

"I was sitting right there and just said, 'Not again,' " Schilling said of del Toro's final launch. "I knew after that, I'm not losing this game. We're not losing. That fired me up."

Newport Harbor (15-4) called timeout with nine seconds left in the fourth period and the score knotted, 8-8. But Laguna Beach's del Toro quickly stole the ball after an outlet pass by Newport Harbor goalie Cleo Harrington, who was positioned near mid-pool. The shot from three-quarters of the pool from del Toro fell short and Harrington sprinted back to her goal to save the ball from floating in.

“It’s better to take the (goalie pass) from half-tank – that makes it a shorter pass and it takes less time,” Newport Harbor coach Bill Barnett said of the Sailors’ strategy on the play. “(But you) take your risk.”

Newport Harbor led, 9-8, and, 10-9, in the first three-minute OT but a power-play strike by Laguna Beach's Makenzie Fischer locked the score, 10-10, with 2:12 left in the second three-minute OT.

Laguna Beach fought off two power-play chances in the first sudden-death period. And in the second sudden-death, Laguna Beach goalie Jenna Knott made a spectacular save on a strong skip-shot by Maddy McLaren with 1:01 left. But just seconds later, Schilling netted her fourth-goal to end the marathon.

"I think that was the most swimming I've ever done in my entire life," Schilling said. "I'm just excited that we came out on top. ... It was a team effort."

Harrington had another strong game with 18 saves, including a reaching block with nine seconds left in regulation against Laguna Beach sharp-shooter Yoshi Andersen.

Andersen helped force overtime by scoring with one minute left in regulation by blasting a shot from 7 meters in off the side post on a power play. Andersen finished with a match-high five goals before fouling out late in the first sudden-death overtime.

The Breakers trailed, 6-2, at halftime before tied the score, 7-7, and, 8-8, in the fourth. But the loss left Laguna Beach still in search of a signature win this season against a Division 1 foe ranked above them.

"Our girls deserve to win and I just want them to break through and win one of these games," Laguna Beach coach Ethan Damato said. "I think we're right there."

MATER DEI WINS DIVISION 2 SHOWDOWN

No. 6 Mater Dei 9, Santiago of Corona 8: Sydney Blubaugh scored from 6 meters with 2:55 left in the fourth period to cap a fourth-period rally by the host Monarchs (20-4), who scored the final four goals.

Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 in Division 2, trailed the second-ranked Sharks, 8-5, after Santiago scored on the opening possession of the fourth period.

But Mater Dei responded with a goal at center from Mackenzie Barr, a counterattack strike by Brianna Daboub and a perimeter goal by Daboub with 3:34 left in the fourth to tie the score, 8-8.

After Blubaugh's goal, Mater Dei goalie Alexsee Wilcox made a key save with 1:13 left in the fourth. Mater Dei's defense later didn't allow the Sharks a shot after they called timeout with 41 seconds left.

The Monarchs' improved to 3-1 against Santiago (16-6) this season.

"We really wanted to beat them," said Wilcox, who finished with seven saves. "It is definitely pretty exciting but we do have to stay level-headed so we don't get over-confident."

Daboub finished with four goals while Barr added three.

"Both teams know each other pretty well and we've been competitive," Santiago coach Ty Hudson said. "We held a two-goal lead in that game and I think we kind of came out (in the fourth) and sat on that and kind of forgot that you've got to play another quarter. And they (Mater Dei) play real tough."