Boys’ Lacrosse: Sea Kings make it 32 straight wins

NEWPORT BEACH — Make that 32 wins in a row for the Corona del Mar High boys’ lacrosse team.

And make that eight Battle of the Bay wins in a row for CdM.

No team has been able to figure out the Sea Kings in two years. Friday’s opponent, Newport Harbor, hasn’t figured out the Sea Kings in eight years.

The Sea Kings made easy work of the Sailors in the annual rivalry game, defeating them, 15-7, on Newport Harbor’s field.

The Sea Kings are one of the best teams in the state as they went into the night ranked fifth by laxpower.com. They also played on probably one of the worst fields in the state.

The field wasn’t much of a field. Huge patches of grass were missing from the doorstep of each goal, all the way to the middle of the field.

None of that bothered the Sea Kings. Their home field is in shoddier conditions.

It doesn’t seem to matter where CdM competes, because it has come out on top every time since last season began.

The Sea Kings are off to an 8-0 start this season, posting numbers almost as impressive as the beginning to last season.

The Sea Kings scored 115 goals and allowed 19 goals through eight games last year. The totals aren’t the same this season, but CdM is winning by an average of eight goals per game, four less than a year ago.

G.W. Mix, CdM’s coach, will take it. He lost a lot of talent and experience off last year’s team, which went 24-0 and claimed the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section title for the first time.

While this year’s group is younger, Mix does have some veterans he can lean on. One of those is his son, Casey, a senior attacker.

Casey got CdM’s offense rolling right away against the Sailors (3-8). Fifty-eight seconds into the game, on a quick counterattack from near midfield, the Sea Kings found the younger Mix.

He did the rest, evading the goalie to find a wide-open net. His goals aren’t usually gimmies like the first of five he recorded.

Mix showed off his shooting ability 2 1/2 minutes later. From the right side, he unleashed a wrist shot to beat the goalie.

Mix added a third goal late in the first period, which the Sea Kings owned with a 6-1 lead. In the first, they had senior attacker Jack Ortlieb produce a goal while the Sailors were on the extra-man advantage and sophomore midfielder Max Kline score right before the period ended.

It turned into a long evening for Newport Harbor, which has dropped nine consecutive contests to CdM. Eight of those have come in the Battle of the Bay and one in the opening round of the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division playoffs.

The last time the Sailors knocked off CdM was in 2005. They weren’t going to end their losing skid to CdM by falling behind by as many as seven goals in the second period.

But the Sailors got within five before halftime with goals from Riley Peterson, Alex Fuller and Garrett Farthing. The Sea Kings were too much, with Mix, Ortlieb (three goals and two assists), Kline (two goals), Chris Von Der Ahe (two goals) and goalie Hoyt Crance (11 saves), for Newport Harbor to become the first team to beat CdM since San Clemente did on May 5, 2011.

The Sea Kings’ winning streak continues. Their next game is on Wednesday and it should be more competitive when they play host to Denver Mullen (6-0), ranked No. 2 in Colorado by laxpower.com.

For now, Mix said his players aren’t talking about the 32-game winning streak.

“For us, it’s just about, you know, the next one, and playing hard, and doing what we do, and trying to get better,” Mix said. “If we win by doing [all of] that, you know, then so be it, and if we don’t [win], so be it. We got to get better from that.”

david.carrillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @DCPenaloza