CdM in postseason form
Last year, Corona del Mar High was the best team going into the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division playoffs, yet it didn’t earn the top seed.
If there was any question whether the Sea Kings deserved the top billing in the upcoming playoffs, they put an end to any doubt on Saturday afternoon.
On the day the selection committee planned to release its 16-team bracket, the Sea Kings showed they are once again the top team. They closed out the regular season with a 15-9 win against Carlsbad La Costa Canyon at home.
The Sea Kings, ranked No. 4 in the state by laxpower.com, defeated the No. 6 Mavericks, who have faced the top three teams in Orange County during an eight-day span. Foothill and St. Margaret’s also beat La Costa Canyon, the defending CIF San Diego Section Division 1 champion, but out of the three, the Sea Kings handed the Mavericks their worst setback and finished the regular season with a 16-1 record.
The Sea Kings also topped Foothill and St. Margaret’s last month. Their lone loss came at home in overtime to San Diego Torrey Pines, which lost to La Costa Canyon in mid-April.
The No. 1 seed belongs to CdM, if you ask its coach, G.W. Mix.
“I really don’t see any way that we couldn’t now, having beat [Foothill], having beat [St. Margaret’s], and having just beat La Costa Canyon, I just don’t see how we couldn’t be No. 1, but stranger things have happened, so we’ll wait,” Mix said.
Five hours after Mix’s Sea Kings played the Mavericks (12-6), he learned that CdM received the No. 1 seed.
The Sea Kings play host to No. 16 Yorba Linda (10-8) in the first round on Tuesday. A win guarantees CdM a second playoff game at home in the quarterfinals.
The semifinals and finals will take place on a neutral field. The sites are still up in the air.
Those two rounds will definitely not be on CdM’s mostly dirt field. The conditions are in such bad shape at CdM that Mix jokes about them before the team takes the field.
“We make decisions whether we’re going to practice at the north beach or the south beach in front of the two different goals,” Mix said.
The Sea Kings and Mavericks spent a lot of time near both ends in the first half, combining for 17 goals.
Offense was on full display in the first 24 minutes, and up until the final minute, it seemed as though CdM would go into halftime with a comfortable 10-5 lead. Then La Costa Canyon’s Jack McLean scored off a defensive breakdown, leaving him in a one-on-one situation with goalie Nick Guizan with 41 seconds to go.
With 2.2 seconds left in the first half, La Costa Canyon beat Guizan again. This one was a wacky goal. The Mavericks’ long clear glanced off a shaft and changed direction, going right into the net to cut the deficit to 10-7.
That lucky goal turned out to be the Mavericks’ final one until the 6:01 mark in the fourth quarter.
The CdM defense shut down La Costa Canyon in the third quarter, a period in which Jason Simaan won three of four faceoffs. The possessions led to third-quarter goals by Jordan Greenhall, Ryan Meckler and Jake Elisius. The hosts built a 13-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth, CdM’s Will Favreau scored while falling down. The goal marked the junior midfielder’s fourth, tying him for the team lead with Greenhall. Meckler, Sachin Gokhale and Stephen Von Der Ahe finished with two goals apiece. Von Der Ahe added seven ground balls and three assists
The 15 goals produced by CdM were the most allowed by the Mavericks this year. Their coach, Jesse Foss, came away impressed by the Sea Kings.
“They have a great faceoff guy in No. 9,” Foss said of the Brown University-bound Simaan, who won 20 of 27 faceoffs
La Costa Canyon has lost three in a row. The first two were to St. Margaret’s, a 10-8 loss on Wednesday, and a 12-11 loss in overtime to Foothill on April 23.
“[Foothill, St. Margaret’s and CdM] all have their bits and pieces that are really good,” Foss said. “Obviously, you know, Foothill’s got a phenomenal attack and some good dodgers. St. Margaret’s has two very, very good dynamic dodgers at attack. Obviously, Corona del Mar, [it’s] a well coached team. No. 9 giving [CdM] possessions is tough to battle back [from].”
