Notes: Coronado picked learning over winning

The Islanders opted to restart match with Newport Harbor instead of advancing with forfeit. October 12, 2009 4:34 PM By DAN ALBANO OCVARSITY.COM Coronado coach Randy Burgess didn’t want his team to reach the finals of the S & R Sport Water Polo Cup thanks to a forfeit. But that was not the No. 1 reason he favored the restart the Islanders’ semifinal match against top-ranked Newport Harbor on Saturday, when the subject of a forfeit surfaced at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine. “We’re here to win games but our No. 1 priority is … to learn and prepare for (the playoffs in) November,” the veteran coach said Saturday. And as it worked out Coronado and Newport Harbor, they both got in some extra preparation. Here’s the recap: After the first period of the semifinal match between Newport Harbor and Coronado, there was discussion that the Sailors were playing with two players who had received game misconducts against Long Beach Wilson in the quarterfinals Friday. Game misconducts carry a one-game suspension, which mean both players would have been ineligible for the semifinals. After the first period ended tied at 3, Newport Harbor and Coronado restarted their match without the two Newport Harbor players. The Sailors won, 10-6. Miramonte coach James Lathrop, whose squad lost in the finals to Newport Harbor, said he liked the decision to replay the Newport Harbor-Coronado semifinal.