Newport Harbor girls’ water polo stays undefeated with rout of Cathedral Catholic

Four freshmen competed on varsity last year for the Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team.

Taylor Smith, Morgan Netherton, Alex Love and Lily Gess are now sophomores, but the Sailors brought in two additional freshmen who play key roles. Anna Reed is the starting goalkeeper, and Avery Montiel is a talented left-hander.

The youth movement is in full effect. Yet, that doesn’t mean that expectations are low, coming off a season where the Sailors made the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals.

Ten different players scored as Newport Harbor routed San Diego Cathedral Catholic 18-6 on Saturday, in a nonleague match at Newport Harbor High. The Sailors stayed perfect so far this year, with a 6-0 record.

“We’re only going to get better from here,” Smith said. “Our practices have been getting a lot better, and our team is a lot closer this year. We’re all really close friends. I think this team just has a lot of passion.”

Smith and Netherton each scored three goals for Newport Harbor, which is ranked No. 6 in Division 1 and 2. The Sailors did graduate key pieces like defender Brooke Banta (UCLA), attacker Kili Skibby (UC Irvine) and center Annie Rankin (Michigan). Yet, they are full of talent at all grade levels this year.

“I think we have a really good shot this year,” Netherton said. “We may be young, but that doesn’t matter. We have that bond, which really helps ... We just connect on a different level and know what we’re all going to do.”

There is also leadership from the upperclassmen which benefits coach Ross Sinclair’s Sailors. Senior Emily Cantu had two goals and an assist in Saturday’s match, and UC Davis-bound senior left-hander Ashley Salem had two goals and a team-best three assists.

Sophomore Sophia Stark also scored twice for the winners, who got one goal each from juniors Olivia Giolas and Reilly Davis, as well as Love and fellow sophomore Paige Naegle.

“I think everyone kind of complements each other, with a mix of good leadership from the junior and senior class,” Sinclair said. “It’s been a good start to the season, and as a team we’re starting to gel and come together.”

Isabel Zimmerman led Cathedral Catholic with three goals, but the Dons managed just one goal in the first half.

Reed, who won gold at the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics last summer as a 14-and-under player for SOCAL, led the defensive effort with six saves. Backup goalkeeper Madi Swart, a sophomore, had three saves and two steals in the fourth quarter.

There are eight sophomores on varsity for Newport Harbor, the most players of any class.

“They’re definitely a really good group of leaders,” Montiel said. “They’re really good team players.”

After beating Cathedral Catholic on Saturday, Newport Harbor’s players had to face off against program alumni in the alumni game. The next match that counts will come after Christmas, at the annual Bill Barnett Holiday Cup.

Newport Harbor opens the 16-team tournament with a home match against Santa Barbara on Friday at 11:45 a.m. Should the Sailors win, they would likely play Santa Margarita in the quarterfinals at 4:05 p.m.

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