Traditional approach works for CdM

Corona del Mar goalie Heidi Ritner reaches to make a save during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match against Edison at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Corona del Mar's Ross Sinclair talks to his players during a timeout in Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match against Edison at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Corona del Mar's Eliza Britt looks to make a pass over Edison's Natalie May during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Corona del Mar's Marina Coskinas, left, takes a shot against Edison goalie Josette Santos during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Edison's Sabrina Jensen, left, passes the ball while under pressure from Corona del Mar's Annie Mortimer during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Edison's Natalie May looks for an open teammate while being pressured by Corona del Mar's Annie Mortimer during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Edison's Sabrina Jensen, left, winds up for a shot on goal as Corona del Mar's Bobbi Hoose approaches during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Edison goalie Josette Santos prepares herself for a 5-meter shot during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match against host Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Corona del Mar's Shannon Frome, right, takes a shot on goal despite pressure from Edison's Bree Marmion during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Corona del Mar goalie Heidi Ritner reaches to stop an Edison shot during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Corona del Mar's Annie Mortimer passes during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match against Edison at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
The Corona del Mar girls water polo team lines up for introductions before the start of Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match against Edison at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4.
Members of the Corona del Mar boys basketball team cheer for the school's girls water polo team during Wednesday's CIF-SS Division 1 first-round playoff match against Edison at Corona del Mar. Third-seeded CdM won, 10-4. The boys basketball team won its playoff opener later Wednesday.

By Dan Albano | dalbano@scng.com | Orange County Register

February 20, 2014 at 6:33 a.m.

The arrival of the CIF-SS girls water polo playoffs was easy to spot at Corona del Mar on Wednesday.

In the parking lot, the cars of Corona del Mar’s players and coaches were colorfully decorated with words of encouragement.

Corona del Mar coach Ross Sinclair wore a new, long-sleeve pink T-shirt, part of a team playoff tradition. The players awarded Sinclair’s jersey a number they knew he would like – Kobe Bryant‘s 24 – but also had fun by printing “Miley” – for Miley Cyrus – above it.

But in the pool, the defending Division 1 champions weren’t in the mood for joking. Corona del Mar nearly shut out visiting Edison for three periods en route to a 10-4 victory in the first round.

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Complete Wednesday scoreboard

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The third-seeded Sea Kings (24-4) play host to Santa Barbara, an 8-1 winner against Saddleback, in the quarterfinals Saturday at noon.

Corona del Mar played a suffocating press that used timely blocks and steals to ignite a trademark counterattack.

Bobbi Hoose, Averi Westerman and Grace Morgan scored on the counterattack in the first half as Corona del Mar opened a 7-0 lead against an Edison (17-13) team that pushed Newport Harbor and Los Alamitos in the Sunset League.

Annie Mortimer sparked two counterattacks in the first period with a steal near mid-pool and a field block. The Michigan commit, who finished with two field blocks, said the team’s pregame spirit set the tone.

“It really gets us going and fired up,” said Mortimer, whose T-shirt read “Wolverine”. “It really puts us in the CIF mood. … I know we were kind of underdogs (at the start of the season) and I think we’re really fired up to prove that wrong and show that we can play and we can defend our title.”

Maddie Musselman and Morgan each added field blocks for Corona del Mar, which opened a 9-0 lead before Edison left-hander Delaney Cleveland scored from the perimeter with 2:26 left in the third.

Corona del Mar goalie Heidi Ritner added seven saves.

“We wanted to play at a high-level, fast pace. We have a fast team,” Sinclair said. “(That) mostly starts with our defense.”

“We talked about playing really good individual defense because they post up a lot,” Mortimer said. “We pride ourselves on our defense.”

Musselman and center Marina Coskinas paced the offense with two goals apeice. Musselman also drew five exclusions. The first exclusion led to the first goal. Coskinas scored on the power play off a well-placed cross-pass to center from Morgan.

Edison goalie Josette Santos had six saves, including four against the power play. Santos was a big reason why Corona del Mar went 2 for 9 with the extra attacker. Edison finished 2 for 7.

“We got the right shots. We just didn’t finish,” Sinclair said of the Sea Kings’ power play. “We’re going to have to do that Saturday if we want to keep playing.”

But the Sea Kings kept firing shots at Santos. In the third, Eliza Britt scored on a skip-shot from the perimeter after Santos stopped a hard shot by Musselman. Then later in the third, Musselman scored from nearly 8 meters to make the score 9-0 with 2:26 left.

Cleveland finished with two goals for Edison, which will return five of seven starters next season. “It was a great year for these girls,” Edison coach Diggy Riley said. “I think we surprised ourselves a little bit.”

Also in Division 1:

Irvine 7, Canyon 4: Lauren Ton scored three goals and Lucine Mikhanjian made 10 saves to lead the host Vaqueros (17-12), who take on top-seeded Laguna Beach in the quarterfinals Saturday.

Laguna Beach 23, Marina 5: Makenzie Fischer and Bella Baldridge each scored five goals and Aria Fischer added four and four assists to lead the host Breakers.

Los Alamitos 18, Beckman 5: Karley Kraft scored five goals at Ocean View to lead the Griffins (21-8), who play San Marcos in the quarterfinals Saturday.

San Marcos 18, Villa Park 5: Freshman Paige Hauschild scored four goals for the host and fourth-seeded Royals, who scored 12 goals in the second half.

Newport Harbor 8, Dos Pueblos of Goleta 5: Kate Pipkin scored three goals to pace the host Sailors, who led, 5-1, at halftime. Newport Harbor takes on No. 2 seeded Foothill in quarterfinals Saturday.

Foothill 19, Woodbridge 4: Left-hander Dani Ayala and center Cana Manzella each racked up four goals and four assists to lead the host Knights. Attacker Julia Sellers added four steals.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com