CdM’s Nicholson shines

* BOYS SOCCER: The Corona del Mar boys under-12 soccer All-Stars

defeated Tustin, 3-2, and North Irvine, 4-2, to remain undefeated and

in first place.

Camden Nicholson, CdM’s leading scorer, kicked in the go-ahead

goal with less than a minute to play to secure the win over Tustin.

Bunk Hooper scored two early goals as CdM built a 2-0 lead only to

have Tustin come back to tie it in the second half.

In the second game, CdM fell behind before Hooper tied the score

and then Nicholson scored three goals.

Passing and ball control of forward John Doering and midfielders

Ori Tabak and Hunter Alder keyed scoring chances.

Tommy Bangert, Wes Baker, Conner Bannan and James Cunningham held

strong defensively and Kendall Pick made two key saves.

Cory Donavan and Michael McKenna kept focus in winning the ball.

Ficenec sparkles

* GIRLS SOCCER: Three goals by Blakeley Ficenec sparked the

Newport girls under-10 Gold All-Star soccer team from AYSO Region 97

to two wins last weekend.

Newport beat South Irvine, 2-1, as Ficenec scored both goals, and

then downed North Irvine, 3-1, after trailing, 1-0, at halftime.

Lauren Grupe scored two goals in the third quarter assisted by Amy

Kanotz and Cailea Eisenberg passed to Ficenec, who iced the win in

the fourth quarter.

Against South Irvine, Tori Sarris and Kanotz assisted on both of

Ficenec’s goals.

Defenders Gwen Gaylord, Hannah McLeod and Sadye Busby stopped

several Irvine breakaways.

Grupe, Beth Barnard, Natalie Swift, Eisenberg and Mary Yeager all

had shots on goal and contributed to Newport’s offensive outburst.

In boys under-10 Silver All-Star action:

* Nolan Mena scored two goals and Bryce Manning added the final

tally as the Newport boys under-10 Silver All-Star soccer team

triumphed over Yorba Linda, 3-1, Saturday.

Landon Gyulay and Ethan Murray added intense pressure at forward

and midfielders Adam Kinder and David Verona moved the ball into

scoring position.

Fullbacks Chris Sheppard (sweeper), Hamilton Randle and Jonathon

Keedy controlled the Yorba attack.

Aaron Cervantes stopped several shots protecting the goal.

Good as gold for CdM

* GIRLS SOCCER: Corona del Mar’s girls under-12 Gold All-Star soccer team maintained its unbeaten, first-place standing with a 3-1

victory over South Irvine

Forward Laura Kopel scored to give CdM a 1-0 lead in the first

quarter on an assist from defender Megan Gaal.

CdM’s Mackenzie Jones scored on a deflection from the Irvine

goalkeeper in the second quarter and midfielder Lindsay Zotovich

found the back of the net on a penalty kick from outside the box in

the third quarter.

Karly Ogden, Heather Van Hiel, A.J. Rome and Kelsey Valley

contributed skilled passing.

Newport plays clutch

* BOYS YOUTH HOOPS: Robbie Boyer hit the game-winning shot with

two seconds left in overtime to break a 40-40 tie, lifting the

seventh-grade boys Newport-Mesa All-Net basketball team to a 43-40

victory over Laguna Hills.

With the win Newport improves to 8-0.

P.J. Simpson led the way for Newport with 12 points and seven

rebounds followed by Kyle Caldwell’s 10 points, seven rebounds and

three steals. Jamie McGee (10 points, three assists), Boyer (seven

points, four assists, four steals), Ali Meshkin and Joe Eberhard (two

points each) also contributed to the scoring. Eberhard also tallied

four steals.

In girls eighth-grade action:

* Newport 25, Laguna Hills 20

Newport hung on to win after leading at the end of three quarters

by eight.

Taylor Holden led Newport with nine points and grabbed nine

rebounds.

Ivy Melo tallied eight points, seven rebounds and six steals while

Becca Turk added four points. Brittany Deyan and Chelsea McCrea each

had two points.

Crush coasts to first shutout

* BOYS YOUTH SOCCER: The Blue Crush recorded its first shutout

of the all-star season with a 4-0 win over South Irvine Saturday in

AYSO Region 57 boys under-14 Gold soccer action.

Goalkeepers Phil Bannan and Geoffrey Grant combined to hold South

Irvine scoreless.

In his first start at striker, Curtis Converse took a breakaway

pass from Andrew Mason to score the Crush’s first goal. An assist by

Brian Nichols to George Logan accounted for the second goal and

Geoffrey Grant picked up the third off a pass by Kyle Murai. Brian

Licorish scored the final goal on a direct kick.

The defense was keyed by Andrew Martinez, Ryan Hultman, Sam

Nadlman, Ford Noe and Matt Rhodes.

Newport dominates Irvine

* BOYS YOUTH SOCCER: It didn’t matter which Irvine team the

Newport boys under-10 Gold All-Star soccer team faced last weekend,

the result was the same -- two wins.

Newport downed South Irvine, 10-1, with three goals from Colton

Gyulay -- all in the first period. Gyulay was aided in the goal

scoring by Stevie Miller, John Barton and Christian Ochoa (two goals

each) and by a single tally from Misha Pakvasa.

Four different players scored goals for Newport in its 6-2 defeat

of North Irvine later Saturday.

Timmy Root, Scott Ridgeway, Barton, Miller and Gyulay each scored

goals and solid defense was provided by Ivan Becerra, Drew Diller,

Sean Regan, Taylor Wildman and goalkeeper Logan Newett. Newport

remains undefeated and in first place.

Newport Harbor ties, 6-6

* CLUB ROLLER HOCKEY : On Monday evening, Newport Harbor Varsity

Roller hockey team tied Huntington High school 6-6. The attack was

led by brothers, Chase and Preston Kelly with each one scoring two

goals and one assists.

Defenseman, Vincent Mungo added one goal for the team while Brett

Robinson and Calvin Anderson added assists.

With 18 seconds left in the third period, Cory Adler took the puck

to the net and tied the game. Goalie Elliott Thacker and strong

defense from Alex Crouse, Collin Insley, Kyle Matthews, and Kevin

Wong made this a very exciting game.