Girls’ Soccer: Sea Kings exit early
CORONA — Corona del Mar High girls’ soccer coach Bryan Middleton definitely knows how to read the mood of his players.
Middleton said something that made the Sea Kings loudly cheer Saturday afternoon at Centennial High. It came after a 2-1 loss to Los Altos in CdM’s final Sunny Hills Invitational pool-play game, but CdM’s players were happy just the same.
Middleton told the players that the tournament third-place game, scheduled for 5 p.m. against Sunny Hills, would be canceled.
The ecstasy that followed may have surprised Middleton a little, but the senior girls would now get to go to a Christmas party back in Orange County. Everyone seemed ready for a break.
“Did you see the reaction of my girls?” Middleton asked Los Altos Coach Chris Reeder as he left the field. “They’re a different bunch, man, I tell you.”
Middleton had his own reasons for not wanting to play the third-place match after his team and Sunny Hills both finished in second place in their four-team pools. He’s friends with Sunny Hills Coach Jeff Gordon, the tournament director.
“We agreed to just cancel our game and start Christmas early for everyone,” Middleton said. “We’ve already played [Sunny Hills], and we beat them [1-0 in an Aliso Cup tournament game Dec. 13].
“Technically [Los Altos was] supposed to do a shootout with Kennedy. If they lost to Kennedy in the shootout, we were going to go to the first-place game. But I was just like, we’ve picked up a lot of injuries, and I want to get ready for the North Orange County Classic and try to have a run at that and win that.”
Los Altos, the winner of Pool B, advanced to play Pool A winner Corona in the Sunny Hills Invitational championship game at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
As for CdM’s final pool-play game against Los Altos, Middleton said he felt like his side was superior.
“Anyone observing the game could see that we dominated play,” he said, pointing out that CdM (4-3) had a handful of dangerous corner kicks into the box from senior midfielder Shelby Brown.
None found the back of the net, though. It was Los Altos (5-3) that got on the board first in the 12th minute, on a perfectly placed free kick from 35 yards out by junior Natalia Elizarraras. She struck the ball into the upper portion of the net, just above the leaping CdM keeper.
Elizarraras struck again in the 40th minute, off a pass from Danielle Verduzco. Her shot from near the top of the box found the upper-left corner of the net, and suddenly CdM was staring at a two-goal deficit.
The Sea Kings cut the deficit in half in the 62nd minute, when senior Brynn Motal was fouled in the box going for a Brown free kick. Brown put away the ensuing penalty kick.
But CdM ran out of time, with just 70-minute games in pool play Saturday as opposed to the normal 80 minutes.
Goalkeepers Ally Lozano and Skyler Gullick combined for four saves for CdM, which now has a week off from matches.
CdM opens the North Orange County Classic on Dec. 27 against El Modena at Jim Scott Stadium.
The break will give time for players like junior midfielder Caroline Bethel (ankle), sophomore midfielder Leah Givant (back) and senior midfielder and co-captain Birkley Sigband (quad) to heal.
“We don’t need any more injuries right now,” Middleton said.
Twitter: @mjszabo
