Love the history! Thanks for your knowledge.
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If anyone is at the Dos vs Loyola game maybe let the dads sitting right under the NFHS camera know that everything they are saying about kids, coaches, other parents is audible and on tape. Lol…
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Newport has looked like a different-caliber team this year — I believe they’ve only had 2 losses over the last 2 seasons (please correct if not accurate).
They’re too deep, very talented, extremely disciplined, and well-coached. Their strength is running multiple lines without any drop in pace or execution, and most of the senior group has been playing together since U10 year round which shows in every possession.
CDM is a strong rival and are peaking at the right time, but it’s still going to take something truly exceptional to knock off this Newport team in their FINAL CIF game defending their Title.
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Interesting to see the names from 10U that are still playing high level games.
| 2018 10 & Under Mixed All-Americans | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | Name | School |
| First Team | ||
| Vanguard Blue | Kai Kaneko (MVP) | Newport |
| Trojan Water Polo Club | Flynn Guenther | Mira Costa |
| Newport Beach Water Polo Club | Connor Clougherty | Newport |
| Poway Valley | Oren Penning | Cathedral Catholic |
| Second Team | ||
| Vanguard Blue | Asa Chen | Mater Dei |
| Trojan Water Polo Club | Kai Nelson | Mira Costa |
| Newport Beach Water Polo Club | Geoffrey Slutzky | Newport |
| SOCAL Black (A) | Connor Colman | JSerra |
| Honorable Mention | ||
| Rose Bowl Red A | John Cowles | Loyola |
| Laguna Beach Water Polo | Dylan Williams | Laguna |
| OCWPC | Hayden Kent | Santa Margarita |
| CCU Black | Will Maguy | Campo |
| Stanford A | Gates Gamble | Sacred Heart |
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I have a friend whose son plays on the Newport team and 10 of the seniors are from that original 10U team that got 3rd in JO’s.
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Agree with you Wpolo9. Newport’s depth and ability to substitute entire lines is impressive. If you are a fan of good high school water polo, I’d encourage anyone to go to the 5pm game between Newport and CDM tomorrow at Mt. SAC. There have been some talented rosters in the last couple year’s Open finals between JSerra and Newport, but look at the list of commitments that will be in the pool tomorrow. Credit to the commitment spreadsheet keeper.
Newport Commitments (11): Cal, Harvard, John’s Hopkins, Navy, Navy, Santa Clara, Santa Clara, Stanford, Stanford, UCSB, USC.
CDM Commitments (5): UOP, UCI, UCSB, UCSD, USC.
And, there are a couple kids who still haven’t declared.
It’s a good thing the city has two high schools.
Prediction: Newport 11 - CDM 7
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Great data Gibson! Love the history and credit to the kids who are still grinding.
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That’s correct. Newport Harbor has only lost two games in the last two years:
JSerra 11, Newport Harbor 9. (SoCal Regional Final match, played Sat., Nov. 23, 2024, at Mt. SAC.)
Cathedral Catholic 9, Newport Harbor 7. (Intersectional match, played Sat., Oct. 11, 2025, at NHHS.)
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Let’s not forgot Newport was a pretty big favorite heading into last year’s title game vs J Serra. They were behind the whole game until the last minute. I don’t know… CIF title game, crosstown rivals, talented rosters, heavy rains… something tells me it’s going to be a tight game until the very end.
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Here’s some details on the scoring of the Corona del Mar vs. Newport Harbor game:
Corona del Mar 1-0-1-1 – T:3
Newport Harbor 1-2-5-2 – T:10
The game was scoreless for the first 6:10 of the game, before Newport Harbor scored the first goal. Corona del Mar came right back and scored on the next possession to make it 1-1 at the end of the first quarter. And, at halftime it was still only 3-1 Newport Harbor. But from that 1-1 tie, Newport Harbor scored 9 of the next 10 goals to lead 10-2 with 5:34 left in the fourth. The real decisive goal (I think) was when Newport Harbor scored with 0:01 left in the third. Corona del Mar added a goal with less than a minute to play in the game, to make the final, 10-3. Neither team played well on 6-on-5 situations – only one goal all night (scored by Newport Harbor). For all the talk about the weather, it was actually quite pleasant. The rain stopped and the sun even poked through about 20 minutes before game time, so conditions were cool, dry and no wind.
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Respectfully, this one was never going to be ‘tight until the very end.’ Newport has been playing at a college-level pace all season, and this was always theirs to lose. Credit to CDM for a great run to the final, but once the whistle blew, the gap in speed, depth, and execution was obvious — Newport controlled the game from start to finish. And this senior class might go down as one for the ages in a program with a very long history of elite teams.
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Congratulations to Newport. This was really an exceptional team. I do not remember a team deeper than this one.
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Since they were sophmores the Newport senior class is 91-7. Five of the loses came in their sophomore season.
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That is an impressive statistic.
That is an insane statistic, hats off and congrats to Newport program (players and coaching staff) for their historic run!
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I’m pretty sure one of those two losses over the last two years was actually to JSerra in the regionals right after Newport won the CIF title last season. Those regional games don’t carry any real significance — just extra rematches — and they’ll have three more of them again this year.
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