Water Polo

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High boys' water polo Coach Robert Lynn said he loved the back-and-forth nature of Tuesday's game against Long Beach Wilson. The teams traded goals, field blocks and big saves for the duration. "I liked that game," Lynn said. "Even if we would have lost, I'd tell you the same thing. I wish we had that game every week for 10 months in a row. It's only going to help us get better. " Of course, Lynn also liked that the Sailors were able to come out with the victory.

Morgan Stewart scored her second goal of the game, a lob shot with just under a minute to play in regulation, to give the Corona del Mar girls' water polo team a 5-4 victory over Santa Barbara in the title game of the California State High School Championships Sunday at CdM. The game-winner gave defending champion CdM its first lead of the game and a solid defensive effort led by the goalie play of CdM captain Erica Weed (five saves) held off Santa Barbara's talented offense led by rising senior Kelsey O'Brien.

Newport Harbor High has an anchor on its school logo. But, for the Sailors' 2006-07 girls' water polo team, Sarah Roberts was the real anchor. The University of Michigan-bound senior captain led the Tars with 67 goals, anchored their offense at two meters and also played two-meter defense when needed. The versatile Roberts is the Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Player of the Year. "She's very conscientious, to say the least," Newport Coach Bill Barnett said. "She cares about the team, cares about winning, cares about what's right.

If there is one aspect (defense) that would be considered key (defense) to the success (defense) of this year's boys' water polo team (defense) at Northwood High school, the answer is clear. Ask first-year coach Chris Murin, and you hear it over and over again. That's right, it's defense. Northwood is off to a good start to the season, winning two of its first three games. Murin has come to Northwood to coach both the boys' and girls' teams after coaching previously at Palos Verdes High, and he immediately went to work to change things around, focusing on defense and the counter attack.

CORONA DEL MAR - Big leads slipped away the last two times the Corona del Mar High girls' water polo team played Dos Pueblos of Goleta. The Sea Kings won both, including the season opener Dec. 7 by a goal. But that wasn't the way they wanted to finish games, nearly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. So when CdM met Dos Pueblos again Friday in a Holiday Cup quarterfinal, it provided an opportunity. "I think they had a bit of a chip on their shoulder, wanting to put four quarters together rather than just two," CdM Coach Sam Bailey said.

Corona del Mar High twin seniors Stephania and Ioanna Haralabidis hope to help the Sea Kings win the CIF Southern Section Division 1 girls' water polo title in February. But over the weekend, the transfers from Greece earned another big title - and a gold medal. The Haralabidis sisters helped Greece's youth national team win the inaugural FINA Youth World Championships in Perth, Australia. Greece beat the United States, 8-3, in the semifinals before topping Hungary, 9-5, in the championship match on Sunday.

NEWPORT BEACH - On this day, the power play was working for the U.S. men's water polo national team. In roughly two months, Team USA hopes to make an Olympic power play on an even bigger stage in London. Momentum could be gained from a good result Sunday afternoon. There the Americans were, in front of an overflow crowd estimated at 1,700 at Newport Harbor High. Their opponent was a familiar one, Hungary, a rematch of the 2008 Olympic gold-medal game won by the Hungarians.

The United States men's national water polo team has trimmed its training roster for the upcoming London Olympics to 14 players, Coach Terry Schroeder announced Tuesday at a press conference at the LA84 Foundation in Los Angeles. Former UC Irvine standouts Ryan Bailey, Jeff Powers and Tim Hutten are among the players on the training roster, as is former Corona del Mar High and UC Berkeley star John Mann. Only 13 players will compete for Team USA at the Olympics. The final roster originally was set to be released Tuesday, but due to recent injuries that announcement has been pushed back to an unspecified date later this month.

The last two selections for Newport-Mesa Dream Team Player of the Year in girls' water polo were Corona del Mar High graduate Alex Musselman and Newport Harbor High graduate Maddy McLaren. Musselman and McLaren will be teammates at UCLA. But first, this summer they are playing on a different sort of dream team. The reality is that the SOCAL Black team that features Musselman, McLaren and CdM graduates Pippa Saunders (Cal), Diana Murphy (Princeton) and Victoria Pierotti (Brown)

Max Bergeson’s last name is a familiar one in Newport Beach, especially at Corona del Mar High. The aquatics center at the school is named after his grandmother, Marian. His father, Garth, was a star water polo player at CdM. His uncle, James, made a name for himself at Newport Harbor. It makes sense that Max would play water polo, too. Before Bergeson’s sophomore year, when he moved with his family from Carlsbad to Newport Beach, there was a small part of him that wanted to go to Newport Harbor.