Corona del Mar dominates rival for Masters crown

LAKE FOREST- Corona del Mar's girls water polo team didn't capture Division I, but the Sea Kings showed Saturday that they are the undisputed Orange County champions.

The Division I runner-up completed an undefeated season against county teams by handling rival Newport Harbor, 9-4, in finals of the Southern Section Masters tournament.

The top-seeded Sea Kings (33-2) scored five power-play goals and got 13 saves by Stanford-bound goalie Kate Baldoni before celebrating the title with a celebratory plunge at El Toro.

Corona del Mar's two losses came against Dos Pueblos of Goleta, which decided not to participate in Masters.

"Whether they (Dos Pueblos) were in it or not, we were still going to come out and play our hardest," Baldoni said. "Playing together (for) the last time, we want to go out and make a statement."

Corona del Mar almost shut out Newport Harbor (26-8) in the first half and held the Sailors to 0 for 6 on the power play. Corona del went 5 for 9 en route to improving to 4-0 against the Sailors.

Corona del Mar also scored the first five goals of the match.

Stanford-bound center Victoria Kennedy paced six Sea Kings in the scoring column with three goals, including two on extra.

The Harvard-bound senior Elise Molnar added two goals while Margot Money, Heather Van Hiel, Victoria Kent and Leslee Kaczmarek each added one.

Like it did in its thrilling semifinal victory against Laguna Beach, Newport Harbor struggled with foul trouble. Defender Kate Klippert picked up her second foul with 4:30 left in the first period and didn't return until the start of the fourth period.

Newport Harbor didn't score until 23 seconds left in the second period when Nina McCall shot and scored from the perimeter off a cross pass from Mia Butera.

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com