Tars back in title match

IRVINE — In the 30th match of the season, the Newport Harbor High boys’ water polo team delivered a first for Coach Jason Lynch.

The Sailors played their most complete match of the year. They earned the right to compete on the big stage again.

Newport Harbor looks to win its second CIF Southern Section Division I championship in three years after throttling Back Bay rival Corona del Mar, 14-10, in the semifinals Wednesday night.

From start to finish, the No. 2-seeded Sailors led, never giving the No. 3 Sea Kings any hope to come back at Irvine High. Newport Harbor went 3-0 against CdM this year.

The latest matchup turned out to be the most lopsided.

The Sailors (26-4) return to the same pool Saturday to face No. 4 El Toro (28-3) in the final. Lynch is making his third championship appearance as Newport Harbor’s coach in nine years.

Newport Harbor and El Toro usually see each other during the regular season and in the playoffs. Saturday marks the first meeting between the two programs and another first.

“We got them in the final this time,“ Lynch said of the Chargers, who upset top-seeded Loyola of Los Angeles, 10-9, in the semifinals Wednesday. “I predicted that they were going to [be the first team to] beat Loyola. I thought it was going to be by more.

“El Toro has been peaking for the last three weeks, and I think they’re not going to play any better. I think we still have another level to go because we have not played well the whole season. That’s the best we’ve played, right there [against CdM]. This is the time to do it.”

Newport Harbor reached the title for the 22nd time in the program’s history. CdM (24-6) wasn’t going to get in the way.

Blake Kelly, Zach Lucas and Matt Russell each scored twice in the opening period, as the Sailors took a 6-3 advantage. Defensively, they shut down the Sea Kings’ top outside shooter, Max Bergeson.

The first seven minutes featured one shot by the left-handed Bergeson. The lob stood a better chance at beating the 30-second shot clock than goalie Chris Whitelegge.

Whitelegge turned back shot after shot and finished with 14 saves. The junior was splitting time earlier in the year in the cage until Lynch said Whitelegge demonstrated he wanted the job more.

The assignment against the Sea Kings grew easier for Whitelegge as the match progressed. The offense helped out. Kelly led the Sailors with four goals and Lucas added three, while Russell, Dane Sequeira and Jack Yeager each scored twice.

“We knew where they were going to shoot when they did,” Whitelegge said. “Basically, we knew what they were trying to do every time.”

If it wasn’t Whitelegge deflecting shots away, teammates blocked shots or forced the Sea Kings into bad, long-range ones.

Bergeson scored a match-high six goals and Chase Watson contributed three. That was the Sailors’ plan.

“They got their goals. They made their moves,” Lynch said. “But I thought our five-man [team] was the huge key.”

The Sea Kings’ power-play game fell apart. Five times in the first half they had the six-on-five advantage, only once was it effective.

Twenty-one minutes passed before CdM converted its next power-play goal. When Bergeson scored in the fourth quarter, it was too late as the Sailors led, 12-7. The lead grew to six after Newport Harbor scored its sixth power-play goal.

The Sailors were minutes away from celebrating a sweep of CdM in grand fashion.

“The two times we played them [earlier] they’ve been close games,” Kelly said. “We were really fired up to beat them by more.”