CdM appears ready for playoffs

CORONA DEL MAR — Motivation was not in short supply on Saturday at the Corona del Mar High pool deck.

The Sea Kings’ nine seniors were playing in their final regular-season home game. Plus, the game happened to be against old rival Laguna Beach, who was in the Pacific Coast League with CdM before moving to the Orange Coast League this season.

While little was at stake in the rankings, pride was on the line. And the CdM girls’ water polo team turned to its trusty companion, the counterattack, to earn a 6-4 win.

Goalie Kate Murphy is part of a strong senior class also including Katie Indvik, Annie Claster, Cari Levine, Leilani Livingston, Paige O’Brien, Sarah Hutchison, Haley Prickett and Taylor Harkins.

Before the game, Murphy said the seniors discussed playing in their final regular-season game.

“It kind of hit us today,” said Murphy, who had 12 saves. “We were like, ‘Oh, OK, this is our last regular-season game.’ We just all wanted to really finish it off right.”

Corona del Mar (21-6), ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division I, struck early and often against the Breakers (22-6), the top-ranked team in Division II.

On the power play, Hutchison scored from two meters with five minutes, 41 seconds left in the first quarter. The play was set up on a nice pass from Indvik.

Hutchison soon showed she could make the pass too, feeding Prickett for a counterattack goal from two meters with 3:40 left in the quarter.

Sea Kings Coach Aaron Chaney watched the fast-paced action in the first quarter. But he also saw that Laguna Beach, which plays with just one player off the bench, couldn’t keep up the pace for long.

“The counter really wore them down,” Chaney said. “There’s so much speed on this team. I told the girls, ‘If you keep that pace up the rest of the game, with the idea of control in mind, they’re not going to stay with us.’”

Prickett scored from two meters with 3:45 until halftime to push the lead to 3-1, but Laguna Beach’s Erin Reed scored on a lob shot just 20 seconds later, cutting the CdM lead to 3-2 at the half.

Then, the counterattack starting making a difference again for CdM. Murphy found Indvik, who had sneaked behind her Laguna Beach defender, with a precise pass, and Indvik scored with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

“They started getting tired,” Indvik said. “We just kept swimming hard, and they couldn’t keep up with us at the end of the game.”

Again on the counterattack, Levine passed it in to Indvik, who tapped it in from in front for a 5-2 lead with 2:34 left in the quarter.

Livingston said it was good practice for what lies ahead for CdM.

“Our counter was totally on today,” she said. “Teams can’t swim with us; that’s totally our strength. It’s something we need to utilize when we get into the CIF playoffs.”

Levine’s strike midway through the fourth quarter gave CdM a three-goal lead before Natasha Schulmann, who had two goals for Laguna Beach, scored on another lob with 2:14 in the game.

She tried another lob with 30 seconds left in the game, but Murphy got to that last-ditch effort to seal the win.

Chaney, who has commended Murphy’s play of late, including in the Irvine Southern California Championships, said a lob shot can be tough to defend. The Breakers scored all of their goals on Saturday on lobs.

But Murphy also had a few spectacular saves, like late in the second quarter when she blocked two consecutive close shots from Laguna Beach’s Annika Dries. The saves preserved what was at the time a 3-2 CdM lead.

Heather Van Hiel had three steals for CdM, and Indvik added two.

The Sea Kings, who won the Division IV title in 2002 and went on to win four consecutive Division II crowns, will now likely be the No. 2 seed for the Division I playoffs. CdM will find out its first-round opponent Monday, when the brackets are released.

“I think we’re all feeling really strong,” Murphy said. “I think we’re all there mentally. It’s not a hyper energy, it’s more streamlined and focused.

“We want it, and we’re ready to go for it.”

Nonleague

Corona del Mar 6,

Laguna Beach 4

Score by Quarters

Laguna Beach 0 2 0 2 — 4

CdM 2 1 2 1 — 6

Laguna Beach -- Schulmann 2, McKee 1, Reid 1. Saves -- Huling 5.

Corona del Mar -- Indvik 2, Prickett 2, Levine 1, Hutchison 1. Saves -- Murphy 12.