The562’s coverage of aquatic sports in Long Beach in 2025-26 is sponsored by Watersafe Swim School.
The562’s coverage of Millikan Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Brian Ramsey and TLD Law.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
Millikan’s Sophia Newland described feeling some nerves before her first-ever Moore League girls’ water polo match. The freshman didn’t play like it. Newland nearly outscored Poly on her own, tallying eight goals as Millikan cruised past Poly, 18-9, in the nightcap of the Moore League Water Polo Showcase at Lakewood’s Aquatic Center.
As a testament to her composure, Newland did most of her scoring in one-on-one situations against the opposing goalkeeper. She also credited her teammates for finding her when she had open water to swim into.
“That says a lot about her knowing that she’s going to be that girl who’s available, and make an opportunity on the counterattack to start our offense right away.” Millikan head coach Michael Carrillo said of Newland. “We don’t play for an out of not having to finish our shots. It’s [about] going in, finishing our shots, stepping through the cage or across the cage, and just hammering it.”
Newland’s second goal perfectly embodied her coach’s sentiment.
The freshman broke forward on a counterattack with the score knotted at 2-2. Newland seemed to have a clean look at the goal until she hesitated slightly. A Jackrabbit defender cut into her shooting lane, but Newland reset. She fought through contact and skipped a shot into the cage, breaking the early deadlock.
Millikan never relinquished its lead.
The Rams comprehensively attacked down the right side, leading to goals from Kyley Seeds and Lilla Angelov. That gave Millikan a four-score lead by the end of the opening quarter — around the time its defensive gameplan started taking shape as well.
“Our main goal [was] that their best player, Sequoia Newman — that is someone that we made sure when she gets the ball, we gotta do whatever we can to make sure she’s either stalled with it, or has a hand up in front of her,” Carrillo said
Millikan already held a comfortable lead by the time Newman got on the scorer’s sheet via penalty shot on the eve of halftime. A swarming Rams defense made it difficult for the Jackrabbits to insert passes near the cage, leading to multiple shot clock violations.
But Newman’s goal, coupled with a short-handed defensive stand, gave Poly some momentum despite facing a 9-4 halftime deficit.
Newland dashed any hopes of a Jackrabbits comeback after the break, though. The freshman scored four consecutive Rams goals in the third quarter, fittingly finishing off the solo run with a counterattack goal that pushed her team’s lead to 14-5.
Newland’s introduction to Moore League play was grand, but it was also indicative of a larger team effort — one that Carrillo was naturally pleased with.
“Communication on defense, our being aware of the ball on our counterattacks — all those simple fundamentals kind of get thrown away in a game that has factors like: league, big pool, new pool, nerves, all that stuff,” Carrillo said. “Getting them to where they’re able to get into what we need to do right away is what I was really happy that we were able to do.”
