Corona del Mar girls’ soccer storms back to beat Edison
Avery Doherty usually plays center back for the Corona del Mar High girls’ soccer team.
Looking to spark some offense, CdM coach Bryan Middleton moved Doherty, a junior, up to the midfield for Thursday’s Surf League match at Edison. He replaced her in the back with freshman Morgan Corcoran, who made her first start of the season.
The plan worked to perfection, as the slumping Sea Kings got a much-needed win.
Doherty scored twice in the second half, and CdM beat Edison 4-2, playing a spoiler role against the Chargers.
Edison (10-5-4, 2-2-1 in league) entered the match tied for first place in the league with Los Alamitos. But the two-time defending league champion Griffins (19-4-4, 3-1-1) are now alone in first place with one match remaining after beating Huntington Beach 2-1 on Thursday.
The Chargers can still earn a share of the league title if they win at Huntington Beach on Tuesday in the league finale and CdM (12-4-2, 2-3) beats Los Alamitos at Bonita Creek Park.
CdM also got goals from senior strikers Megan Chelf and Nikki Senske as part of a four-goal run against Edison. After the match, Middleton called it one of the top-two matches he has been a part of in his 19 seasons in charge of the program. The other was when the Sea Kings rallied for a 3-2 win at Northwood in 2014, clinching the Pacific Coast League title.
“If you play like we played tonight, anything is possible,” he said. “We came in pretty fired up ... We trusted Morgan could win the 50-50 battles and get the ball forward, and it freed up Avery in the midfield to get the ball down, be creative and spread the passing on this giant field. We talked about how this field is so big that if you attack the width and get it to the end line for the cross and finish, that’s how you score goals. That’s how we scored the three goals in the second half.”
Senior Mia Ferrentino’s run through the right side of the box in the 46th minute attracted attention, and she passed the ball to Doherty at the back post for an easy goal and a 2-1 CdM lead. In the 56th minute, Doherty scored again, assisted by Chelf.
Two minutes later Chelf crossed the ball from the right to Senske, whose powerful header in the box got past Edison goalkeeper Allyssa Plotkin, who made six saves in the match. CdM was suddenly ahead 4-1.
“She blasted it,” Doherty said. “It was the best header I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
Edison senior Nikki Martino scored off a direct free kick in stoppage time, but it was too little too late for the Chargers against the determined Sea Kings.
“For a while, our games were just almost very individual,” said CdM senior midfielder Jordan Needham, a transfer from Edison who helped the Sea Kings beat her former team. “We hadn’t clicked officially as a team. I think tonight, everybody was passing, everybody was working hard, we were winning our 50-50 [balls]. There wasn’t a weak link on the field. Even the subs, when they came in, it was hard and strong. Everybody wanted to be here tonight.”
CdM sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Walls made two saves and the Sea Kings’ defense of Corcoran, seniors Alex Ianni and Sophia Harvey and junior Anna Neiger held up. That was true even as Edison took a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute on Christina Hardway’s goal, assisted by Emily Crownfield.
Chelf received Maddie Rosen’s pass and scored CdM’s first goal in the 26th minute, blasting a shot from about 25 yards out into the upper part of the net.
The Sea Kings’ onslaught would continue into the second half.
“We’ve never played this well,” Ferrentino said. “We’ve never been this far back in league and had to come back, too, so I think that comeback really helped us gain momentum.”
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