Corona del Mar girls’ lacrosse fights back for Battle of the Bay win
The Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high school girls’ lacrosse teams have been pretty evenly matched the last couple of years.
The Sea Kings beat the Sailors in the teams’ first league meeting last year, but Newport Harbor won the second one and the rubber match in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 semifinals.
An even match was exactly what fans got Thursday, but a talented sophomore transfer helped turn the tide of the Sunset League match in favor of CdM.
JSerra transfer Meg Vanis scored the last two goals for the Sea Kings, including the game-winner, in an 8-7 Battle of the Bay win at CdM’s field.
San Diego State-bound senior Frankie Garcia also scored three goals for CdM (9-7, 4-0 in league), which stayed in contention for the league title. CdM plays at defending league champion Edison (12-4, 4-0) on Tuesday night, with the winner capturing the outright Sunset League crown.
The Sea Kings came into Thursday’s Battle of the Bay match as perhaps a slight underdog against Newport Harbor (11-4, 2-2). It showed in the first half. The Sailors took a 5-2 halftime lead, with sophomore Casey Sharbrough scoring all three of her goals before intermission.
CdM coach Jessica Murray saw a few shots hit the post in the first half, when her team made just two of 16 shots. But she also knew that senior Abby Grace was winning the draws.
“Draw control is key,” Murray said. “When you see how many shots you have, it usually correlates pretty closely with the draw controls. We were controlling the draws, we just couldn’t get our goals in. And their goalie [senior Lucy Valdes] is very good. She’s a great goalie, she’s super-athletic and she’s really active. I give her a ton of that credit too.”
Valdes made 13 saves in the match. CdM junior Avery Charlesworth, in her first year as a goalkeeper, made a handful of saves and stayed composed throughout.
CdM rallied to take its first lead, at 6-5, on a free-position goal from Grace with 7:53 remaining. She said it took time for the Sea Kings to work faster against Newport Harbor’s “backer” defense.
“It’s hard for us, especially as a driving team, to get around that,” said Grace, one of three CdM team captains along with Garcia and senior defender Megan Schafer. “I think especially after half, we navigated through it really well. We were really composed, and we got a lot of the draws.”
Senior Caroline Close had a match-high four goals for Newport Harbor, including the last two. Her free-position strike tied the score for the final time, at 7-7, with 3:19 remaining.
She said her team was searching a bit for that same composure.
“Whenever we play CdM it’s a bit stressful, especially on their field.” Close said. “We also had a lead, so I think we felt a little too comfortable. Our team just needs to work together a little more, and we’re going to work on that in practice.”
After Close’s last goal, Vanis won the ensuing draw, sped down the field and scored nine seconds later. She waited on her shot.
“I got the draw and saw that their defense was ready for me to come, but I tried to weave my way through,” Vanis said. “Their goalie is really good high, so I tried getting around to shoot it kind of by her hips. She does save almost every single one high, so I was just trying to get the best shot that I could.”
Vanis and Grace led CdM with five ground balls each, while Emma Chaix and Lauren Boyd each had a pair of ground balls for the Sailors.
CdM now prepares for its league title match at Edison.
“They’re a really strong team, but I think lately we’ve had really good momentum going and we’re really strong together,” Garcia said. “I think we can battle with them, for sure.”
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