“We scrimmage each other once a week all summer long,” CdM Coach Aaron Chaney said. “The girls have been playing junior polo against each other since they were 10 or 11. They’re pretty familiar. We know them pretty well.”
Newport Harbor won the teams’ nonleague meeting on Dec. 21, 5-3. The Tars then beat the Sea Kings in the third-place game of the Holiday Cup, 9-3, on Dec. 29.
Corona del Mar won when the teams met in the title game of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, 6-5, in overtime on Jan. 12. But Newport Harbor came back to win the Irvine Southern California Championships title game, 3-2, on Feb. 2 in another overtime game.
“Typical,” Sailors senior Mimi Bury said of facing CdM again. “Every tournament we’ve had, we’ve played CdM in our last game. This is our last hurrah against CdM, I guess.”
Both programs are used to winning CIF championships. The Sunset League champion Sailors previously won Division I titles in 1999, 2004 and 2006. The Pacific Coast League champion Sea Kings won the Division IV title in 2002 before winning four straight Division II titles.
Each team has already qualified for the CIF Masters Tournament, scheduled Feb. 29 and March 1.
The Sailors boast an impressive offensive attack. Led in scoring by junior Nicolina McCall (54 goals), Newport Harbor has a balanced system that also includes senior Erin Reid (42 goals), Bury (36), as well as sophomores Kaleigh Gilchrist (34) and Kate Klippert (33). McCall, Bury, Gilchrist and Klippert can all play center.
Senior left-hander Jessica Robinson is also a threat and seniors Amanda Simons and Elizabeth Wheeler are effective at set defense. Senior goalie Morgan Vickers shores up the defense for the Sailors, who have won 11 straight.
