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IRVINE — Newport Harbor rules in the pool when it comes to girls and boys water polo.
The Sailors’ top-seeded girls gave the school a sweep of the inaugural CIF Southern Section Open Division titles Saturday night by handling No. 2 Laguna Beach 11-6 in front of a packed crowd at the Woollett Aquatics Center.
In the fall, Newport Harbor’s boys captured the Open Division title with a 12-7 victory against Huntington Beach. Now, the Sailors are the first program to win both the boys and girls Open/Division 1 titles in the same school year since Newport Harbor teams did it in 2007-08.
“It’s pretty rad,” said senior Morgan Netherton, who had three goals and three assists. “We wanted to do this for each other, and our program and (Coach) Ross (Sinclair). I know he really wanted it bad, and we did too.
“Having the boys come out and support us just like we did (for them) shows our tight-knit community.”
And just like the boys did in November, the Newport Harbor girls (26-1) sang their alma mater during their postgame celebration in the pool before wildly splashing.
The boys players in the stands, donned in their water polo robes, swayed back and forth as the girls sang.
“It’s a family,” said Sinclair, a Newport Harbor graduate who became the first coach to lead an Open/Division 1 sweep in the same school year. “You see the boys in the stands, it’s insane. You see the girls in the stands in the fall, it’s electrifying.”
So was Newport Harbor’s start against the two-time defending champion Breakers (25-6).
In storming to its first Open/Division 1 title since 2012, the Sailors forced six consecutive turnovers to open the match en route to a 5-0 lead early in the second period. They led 8-2 in the third to conjure memories of the 9-2 advantage Newport Harbor’s boys built in their title win.
Junior left-hander Avery Montiel signaled her breakout performance by drawing an early exclusion that led to a power-play strike by Bia Mantellato less than a minute into the opening period.
Montiel finished with a match-high four goals.
Mantellato, a transfer from Brazil, scored two of her three goals in the first and also drew two exclusions and a penalty in the period.
Newport Harbor went 3 for 3 on the power play in the opening period and finished 6 for 7. Laguna Beach went 2 for 6.
Newport Harbor goalie Anna Reed continued her sizzling play with nine saves in the 19th straight victory for the Sailors.
“I don’t know if anybody is going to beat them the way they played tonight,” said Laguna Beach coach Ethan Damato, whose team was led by Ava Houlahan’s three goals and two steals.
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“We knew we had to play really well to have a chance to win, and unfortunately we didn’t. … It wasn’t a lot of fun but our season was a lot of fun.”
For Newport Harbor, the season was historic.