Field hockey: Tars edge Vikings, 1-0

Richard Dunn

HUNTINGTON BEACH - With an emphasis on team play and an

all-for-one, one-for-all approach, Newport Harbor High provided the

Sunset League’s biggest team turnaround Tuesday in defeating perennial

field hockey power Marina, 1-0.

In the end, however, it was the individual midfield ball-control play

of Kaley Nix that made the difference in what Newport Harbor Coach Sharon

Wolfe termed a “huge� victory on the Vikings’ field.

With Marina (13-2-1, 9-2 in league) threatening in the final minute,

Newport Harbor’s defense knocked the ball away toward Nix, who pushed the

ball up midfield and dodged three Viking defenders along the way, each

with one-on-one moves.

Nix, who scored the game’s only goal 1 minute, 6 seconds into the

contest on an Athena Vasquez assist, controlled the ball following

Marina’s final offensive series, then juked two opposing players and

scooped past another while sticking the ball downfield.

“Kaley Nix is playing with such strong emotions. She’s in such a

zone,� said Wolfe, whose team (14-2-1, 10-1) took over first place and

the inside track to the Sunset League title with three tough games

remaining (Edison, Harvard/Westlake and Santa Ana, the only other team to

beat Marina this year).

“That’s impressive,� Wolfe said of her team’s league record,

“considering we lost our first league game to Marina, 4-0, and now we’ve

won 10 in a row.�

Harbor also tied Marina, 0-0, in the Orange County Invitational and

lost to the Vikings in the semifinals of the tournament on strokes, 1-0.

The fourth time apparently was a charm for Newport. “It’s crazy,� Nix

said. “We weren’t underdogs today. We were playing to win. We wanted it a

lot.�

The Sailors, who also recorded their 14th shutout of the season behind

sophomore goalie Amanda Wittman, scored quickly when Nix blocked Marina

goalie Lisette Kocka’s view of the action in front of the cage.

“When (Vasquez) hit it to me, I just swung around,� Nix said.

“They caught us off guard in the first minute, but it was even

throughout,� Marina Coach Crystal Gray said. “Newport’s a strong team. We

knew it would be a tough game.�

Wolfe added: “We’ve never scored that quick before.�

Newport outshot Marina, 6-4, in the first half, but Marina had most of

the second-half opportunities (six shot attempts).

Kirsten Chamberlain, Allison McKenzie, Brianne Parmeter, Danielle

Pfaff, Carlin Schneider, Tiffany Vandersloot and Jill Whitfield also

played well on defense for the Tars.

Newport, which attempted only three shots in the second half, slipped

in the game’s only goal in the second minute, after Vasquez picked up a

rebound from a missed shot and fed Nix, who pushed in the goal.

Then, to cap the victory, Nix raced with the ball downfield and took

on any Viking player in front of her to help run out the clock.

“I knew there was only one minute left,� Nix said. “We do not want

them to come back to their half (of the field), and I just wanted to stay

on the ball.�

Nix admitted the team aspect in field hockey involves a lot of

passing, but, with only opposing jerseys in front of her, she took on all

comers.

“Our players had a quiet confidence early,� Wolfe said. “Everybody was

in tune with each other.�