Girls' Water Polo: Newport Harbor Stuns CdM for Championship

The odds didn't look good for Newport Harbor. Facing top-seeded Corona del Mar for the Southern Section Division 1 girls' water polo championship on Saturday, Newport trailed by two goals heading into the fourth quarter.

Worse, it had scored only four goals through the first three quarters.

History wasn't on the Sailors' side, either. They had lost three of four matches during the regular season to CdM.

But Newport Harbor pulled off a memorable comeback by finding the net four times in the fourth to pull off an 8-7 come-from-behind victory at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine.

It is the fifth section title for Newport Harbor (27-4), which was seeded second in the tournament, and just as sweet, it denied rival Corona del Mar (28-3) of a championship.

Newport scored the first four goals of the final period, wiping out Corona del Mar's lead and its championship hopes. Actually, Newport scored five in a row, including the final goal of the third quarter while trailing, 6-3.

The fourth quarter surge came from three players, Maddy McLaren—who scored the first and third goal of the run—Presley Pender and Carly Christian.

Christian's power-play goal gave Newport an 8-6 lead with 2:38 left in the match.

Newport got two goals apiece from McLaren, Pender and Avery Pterson.

Cassidy Papa, who scored CdM's final goal with 1:39 remaining, scored twice, as did teammates Pippa Saunders and Diana Murphy.

Newport goalie Cleo Harrington and CdM's Alex Musselman each recorded 11 saves.

All championship games:

Division 1: Newport Harbor 8, Corona del Mar 7

Division 2: Corona Santiago 9, Mater Dei 8

Division 3: Murrieta Valley 12, Arroyo Grande 3

Division 4: North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake 9, Los Osos 2

Division 5: Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon 12, La Verne Bonita 11

Division 6: Downey Warren 15, Pasadena Poly 10

Division 7: Santa Ana Valley 8, Los Amigos 7