Strong second half carries CdM past Foothill
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The Sea Kings beat their county rival with a dominating defensive effort.
IRVINE Bragging rights, county and CIF rankings were on the line when the Foothill and Corona del Mar girls water polo teams met Saturday.
Tied at halftime, the Sea Kings shut out the Knights in the second half for a 5-3 victory in nonleague play at Beckman High.
“We gave up a total of three second-half goals in four games at the Santa Barbara Tournament,” Sea Kings coach Aaron Chaney said.
“Today it was no goals in the second half. It says a lot about the girls and their conditioning. They stepped it up today.”
Corona del Mar (13-5, 2-0) entered Saturday's showdown ranked No. 1 in Orange County and No. 2 in the CIF-SS Division I poll. The Knights (13-5, 2-0) were ranked No. 3 in both.
The teams met on Dec. 29 in the Holiday Cup at Newport Harbor High. The Knights won that one, 6-5, on a penalty shot in overtime.
On Saturday, the teams were again tied at 3 at the half, but the Sea Kings' defense proved to be the difference this time.
Chaney credited Elise Molnar's 2-meter defense on Emily Klug, who entered Saturday with 36 goals, but was held to one.
“Molnar was able to neutralize Emily,” Chaney said.
“Emily's strong. She's probably one of the two best 2-meter players in the county. Molnar was just real patient and did a good job of not getting kicked out.”
Victoria Kennedy's 2-meter goal gave the Sea Kings a 4-3 lead with 4:21 to go in the third quarter. After receiving the entry pass, Kennedy was double-teamed but spun free between the defenders for the score.
Kennedy added a man-advantage goal less than a minute into the fourth quarter for the final margin. She finished with a game-high 3 goals.
“We came out hard,” Kennedy said. “We wanted this one really badly.”
Kennedy said the difference between her team's victory Saturday over the Knights vs. its loss in December was the Sea Kings played four consistent quarters.
Conversely, Foothill coach Dave Mikesell said lack of consistency hurt his team.
“It was two different teams today,” he said.
“One showed up in the first half and another showed up in the second half. Corona del Mar didn't change anything.
They played consistent for four quarters. Somehow, my team lost some of its focus in the second half.”
Saturday's match was originally set for earlier in the season before it was switched because of scheduling conflicts. Both the Knights (Sea View) and Sea Kings (Pacific Coast) are 2-0 in their respective leagues.
“It's good training,” Mikesell said about the nonleague game during league season.
“For us, it depends on how we respond from this.”
Contact the writer: preps@ocregister.com
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