Lucca Magic! Newport Harbor boys’ water polo rallies to stun JSerra for CIF title
WALNUT — Lucca Van Der Woude fancies himself more of a soccer fan than a basketball fan.
The Newport Harbor High senior boys’ water polo player is only casually aware of the Dallas Mavericks point guard with the first name pronounced the same as his but spelled differently, Luka Doncic.
With time and an opportunity to win a CIF Southern Section Open Division title slipping away Saturday night at Mt. San Antonio College, Van Der Woude stepped up.
The Sailors got their own dose of “Lucca Magic.”
Van Der Woude scored the final two goals, including the game-winner from about five meters with 54 seconds left, as top-seeded Newport Harbor rallied for an 11-10 victory over No. 2 JSerra.
“I knew we needed a goal and time was running out,” said Van Der Woude, who scored a match-high four goals and also drew four exclusions. “I saw the open net, and I had to take my shot. But it wasn’t just me. At the end of the day, when we were down three goals, everyone came together as a team. We said, ‘We’ve got this, we’re still in the game,’ and we just pushed through together. Everyone played their part.”
That has been true all season for the undefeated Sailors (31-0), who captured their third Open Division title in four years and 15th boys’ water polo championship in program history.
Van Der Woude tied the score on a redirect goal from center, assisted by junior Dash D’Ambrosia, with 2:03 left in the fourth quarter. His fourth and final strike, which came in transition after a steal from junior Kai Kaneko, gave the Sailors their first lead since the first quarter.
JSerra’s Taylor Bell drew a power-play opportunity in the final minute, but the Sailors thwarted the Lions’ final attempt as senior Weston Hartel field blocked the ball out of play. From there, Newport Harbor played keep away to run out the clock, setting off a wild celebration.
No previous win this season had been closer than four goals, but defending Open Division champion JSerra (26-4) delivered the most serious challenge in the CIF title match, taking an 8-5 halftime lead.
JSerra went on to become the first team this season to score double-digit goals on Newport Harbor. Still, the Sailors held the Lions to just two second-half goals in winning the teams’ third and most important encounter of the season.
“I don’t think we played a great first half at all,” Newport Harbor coach Ross Sinclair said. “[We were] just not really thinking clearly and playing as together as we could. I thought we did a fantastic job being resilient and finding a way to win.”
Kaneko and D’Ambrosia each scored twice for the Sailors, with each player dishing out three assists. Senior goalkeeper Luke Harris had eight saves, including two big ones late as Newport Harbor blanked JSerra for the final 4:56 of the match.
“Best goalie in the country right here,” Van Der Woude said of Harris, bound for USC. “We could not have won that game without Luke. Luke saved us in some crucial moments. Not even him just physically blocking it, but knowing he’s behind us allows us to trust our own game so much.”
Van Der Woude, a transfer from Harvard-Westlake, scored all three of the Sailors’ fourth-quarter goals.
Newport Harbor junior standouts Mason Netzer and Connor Ohl each scored once, but Ohl fouled out early in the fourth quarter.
Hartel made the most of his extended minutes, also scoring a power-play goal in the third quarter after Ohl had picked up his second exclusion.
“We’ve been playing together for so long,” Hartel said. “We know each other at our best, we know each other at our worst, and that’s when we kind of bind together as a team. When somebody goes down, we all go and fill in for that one down player.”
Connor Colman, Tyler Anderson and Bell each had three goals for JSerra, which played its best match of the season, coach Brett Ornsby said. Goalkeeper Jonas Ransford made seven saves.
“We got way better, so I’m proud of the guys,” Ornsby said. “It is mixed feelings. There’s frustration, there’s anger, there’s disappointment, but my biggest feeling is gratitude toward the kids and pride for the process they’ve gone through, the improvements they’ve made.”
Newport Harbor still captured the title, even in a season where the Sailors played without a pool on campus. Sinclair gave thanks to Estancia and Costa Mesa high schools for hosting his squad for practices.
After Saturday’s mach, someone asked Sinclair if he was worried since the Sailors haven’t played any close games this season. He saw it differently.
“We have, though,” he said. “Every game starts 0-0. We were down against Santa Margarita, and we were 2-1 [after a quarter] against CdM [in the semifinals]. Those are the moments you’ve got to learn to apply later in the game. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first quarter or the last quarter. I thought these guys stayed true to that.
“They’re champions, and that’s what champions do, they find a way to win. I love these guys. I’m so proud of them.”
Newport Harbor and JSerra are the top two seeds in next week’s CIF Southern California Regional Division I championships. The Sailors host Westlake on Tuesday in the first round, while the Lions host The Bishop’s School of La Jolla.
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