Rematch possible at SoCal tourney

This time, the Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo teams won’t have to go to Goleta for a quarterfinal meeting.

The Sailors and Sea Kings could meet again Friday at CdM in the Irvine Southern California Championships, which begin today at four host pools.

For the second straight tournament, Newport Harbor (16-4) and CdM (14-5) are seeded fourth and fifth, respectively. Newport Harbor opens its tournament against Cabrillo at 3 p.m. today at CdM, while the Sea Kings open at their home pool against Esperanza at 5 p.m.

Both teams would have another game this evening, win or lose. With a win, Newport Harbor would play either El Toro or Carlsbad in a second-round game at 7 p.m. Corona del Mar would play either Agoura or Villa Park at 8 p.m.

If the Back Bay rivals both win twice today, they would meet in a tournament quarterfinal Friday at 6 p.m., also at CdM.

Newport Harbor defeated CdM, 7-4, in the quarterfinals at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Jan. 14, although the Sea Kings were then without senior team captain Maddie Schwartz (finger). The Sailors also edged CdM, 6-5 in overtime, in the Battle of the Bay on Dec. 17.

Junior Maddy McLaren (52 goals) paces the Sailors in scoring, as does junior Pippa Saunders (47 goals) for the Sea Kings.

Defending tournament champion Dos Pueblos, which has now won 56 games in a row, is the top overall seed. Los Alamitos and Santa Barbara, which played Dos Pueblos within a goal in two Channel League losses, are the second and third seeds, respectively.

Dos Pueblos’ last loss was to CdM in the final of these Southern California Championships, 8-7, on Feb. 7, 2009.

Tournament semifinals are scheduled for 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Saturday at the Irvine High dive pool. The championship match is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the same venue.