Sea Kings March to Their 11th Title

The flu didn’t stop Corona del Mar’s Mike March Wednesday at the Southern Section Division II water polo championships. The junior drew double duty and still led the Sea Kings to their 11th title, with a 15-7 victory over University at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Defending one of the best two-meter players on one end and controlling the offense for the top-seeded Sea Kings (23-5) on the other end, March showed no signs of illness. He scored five goals on six shots, had six assists, and helped hold the Trojans’ Ted Peck to one goal in six attempts.

“This is really exciting,” March said. “Our goal was to shut [Peck] down, and we did a pretty good job of it. That opened up some opportunities for me on offense.”

Whenever Peck touched the ball, the Sea Kings dropped two, three and sometimes four players on him, completely frustrating the senior, who finished with 96 goals this season.

“That was really tough,” Peck said. “I’m used to having three guys on me, but not three guys over 200 pounds. My team did the best they could, but we didn’t stop the counter like we needed to.”

The third-seeded Trojans (18-8) scored first when Peck scored his only goal with a backhand shot just over a minute into the game. After Corona del Mar tied it, 1-1, University struck again when Peter Fyfe passed inside to Peck, who dished it to Nick Chukiat for the goal. It was the last time the Trojans would lead, as the Sea Kings scored eight consecutive goals to take a 9-2 lead at the half.

“We started out strong,” University Coach Jon Pendleton said. “But when they started collapsing on Teddy, he was taking it so personally. He’s the guy we look to, so it’s tough for him.”

University, which lost to Corona del Mar, 12-5, in an earlier meeting, did a better job on offense this time around, outshooting the Sea Kings, 32-26. However, the Sea King counterattack, led by March and Garrett Bowlus, was dominating. When the Sea Kings didn’t convert on the counter, they drew a foul, and Corona del Mar converted three of six man-advantage opportunities, with March scoring all three goals. Bowlus finished with three goals and three assists.

It was the second-consecutive Division II title for the Sea Kings, again fueling debate whether they should be allowed to move back to Division I. Corona del Mar Coach John Vargas said there should be little debate.

“The two teams in the Division I final, Newport Harbor and Foothill, we beat them both,” Vargas said. “Hopefully if we win a few more of these they’ll have to move us back up.”

It was the first appearance in the finals for the Trojans since 1974.

“I was happy to be here,” Peck said. “But it’s tough to go out on that note.”