Chelf scores, flips in Corona del Mar’s 1-0 win over Laguna Beach

Corona del Mar High sophomore Megan Chelf looked forward to Friday’s nonleague girls’ soccer game against Laguna Beach.

Chelf was reunited with her teammate on Southern California Blues Soccer Club, Breakers sophomore Reilyn Turner. Together, the two helped the SC Blues under-15 team win the Elite Clubs National League national championship last July.

In club, Turner is a striker, while Chelf plays on defense. But it was Chelf who scored the lone goal Friday, as the Sea Kings earned a 1-0 nonleague victory at home.

Turner, a UCLA commit, gave the University of Arizona-committed Chelf a bit of a good-natured shove in the postgame high-five line.

“I was trash-talking her, telling her the right back scored,” Chelf said. “Left-footed, too. It’s so fun. I haven’t seen her in a while, so it’s fun.”

CdM (6-2-3) dominated the scoring chances, particularly in the first half. Ashley Maloney took a handful of corner kicks, but the only goal came in the 23rd minute.

Senior Ava McKenzie had possession near the top of the box, and made a short pass back to an open Chelf. The right-footed sophomore took her time before blasting the left-footed attempt toward the top of the goal. Breakers sophomore goalie Camila Reese was able to deflect it, but not prevent it from going in.

Defensively, the Sea Kings held Turner in check. She was unable to repeat her performance from Thursday, when Laguna Beach coach Ben Helm said she scored all four Laguna Beach goals in a 4-2 victory at La Quinta of La Quinta.

CdM coach Bryan Middleton credited the Sea Kings’ back line of senior Julie Bartz, junior Katharine Caston, sophomore Alex Ianni and freshman Avery Doherty. Sophomore goalkeeper Giovanna Broderick made three saves.

“[Turner] is a special player, so we had to double-team her the whole time,” Middleton said. “We talked about how to shift and cover her, and it worked. She didn’t really have one clean shot on goal.”

Caston has moved to defense, as Middleton said junior center back Alyssa McKenzie is out with a quadriceps injury. Middleton said senior forward Elizabeth Lamie also missed Friday’s contest with the flu, which opened things up for senior Kate Montgomery to come off the bench and generate several scoring chances.

Laguna Beach’s best look came in the 63rd minute. Junior Kerin Onodera played a through ball to senior Haylee Jarvis in the box, but Jarvis collided with Doherty as she shot and the shot went right to Broderick.

The Breakers (2-8-1) kept it close. Coach Ben Helm said his two varsity goalkeepers, Lehar Chawla and Lola Fisher, were both out of town. Reese, the Breakers’ starting junior varsity keeper, stepped up for six saves.

“I thought the girls played with an incredible amount of commitment and passion,” Helm said.

Both teams start league play next week. CdM, the defending Pacific Coast League champion, plays at University on Tuesday at 3:15 p.m. Laguna Beach, the defending Orange Coast League champion, plays at Godinez, also on Tuesday at 3:15.

Friday’s game was the first for CdM since the Battle of the Bay game against rival Newport Harbor on Dec. 21.

“We had only three days of practice leading up to this game,” Ava McKenzie said. “For our first game back, we did what we needed to do.”