Girls’ Water Polo: Costa Mesa blanked in CIF opener
HUNTINGTON BEACH — Members of the Costa Mesa High girls’ water polo team squealed in joy as senior goalkeeper Antonia Velasquez got put into the field Tuesday afternoon.
“Go Toni!” someone yelled from the bench. “Pass it to Toni!” screamed another player.
Velasquez getting to play as a field player was a rare highlight for the Mustangs in their CIF Southern Section Division 1 wild-card playoff game. They were blanked by Edison, 21-0, at Ocean View High.
Edison (14-14) moves on to play at No. 4-seeded Corona del Mar in the first round Wednesday at 5 p.m.
The result was maybe predictable as the two third-place teams met, Edison from the always tough Sunset League and Costa Mesa from the Orange Coast League. Yet the relatively young and inexperienced Mustangs left the pool deck with their collective heads held high.
Costa Mesa senior co-captain Melissa Folkerts said the team knew the game would be tough, yet came into it with a positive mindset.
“I think that was one of the most important things,” said Folkerts, a defender and one of the most experienced players in the program. “Like my coach always says, the scoreboard doesn’t really tell you what our season was like. I think our season was constant progression. It seemed like every day, every practice we got better and better. It was really nice to see these girls jump into something completely new. They couldn’t really swim across the pool in the beginning, and now they’re playing games. I think that’s really amazing. I’m really proud of them.”
Senior Lyndsie Williams and sophomore Chloe Kunst each scored four goals for the Chargers, while senior Kayla Atkinson and junior Julie Harrison scored three each. Senior goalie Sierra Page made five saves for Edison, before scoring a goal in the field in the fourth quarter.
Edison utilized a heavy press defense from the beginning. The hosts opened a 7-0 lead after a quarter and a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Edison Coach Diggy Riley said it was important his team play well before playing CdM. The Chargers lost to the Sea Kings, 17-5, in the second round of the Irvine Southern California Championships on Feb. 5.
“It was a good warmup for us,” Riley said of Tuesday’s victory. “I don’t mean that to put down Costa Mesa, but we needed this for [Wednesday], because [Wednesday] we have to play really, really well ... It’s going to be physical, and we don’t match well with physical teams, we match up way better with finesse teams. We’ve got our hands full, but we’re going to come out upbeat.”
Folkerts had a steal and drew three exclusions for the Mustangs against Edison, but Costa Mesa went scoreless in six power-play chances. The other senior co-captain Bridgette Smitheram had a pair of steals, while freshman Alessia Vitiello added a steal.
Velasquez made four saves and sophomore Michelle Vu added two for Costa Mesa (9-16), which managed to qualify for CIF in co-coaches Cody and Dustin Serrano’s first year guiding their alma mater.
“Edison is a great team, so we knew coming into this game we were going to have to come out and play with zero nerves,” Dustin Serrano said. “It’s a hard challenge going against Edison, [and] Laguna Beach [in league]. We’re not there yet, but we will be ... it’s a process that me and Cody are working at, growing the program to make it up there with the Edisons, Laguna Beaches. It may be a long process, but we want to get there, somewhat in the near future. We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen, so that’s a great start right there. Those girls picked it up really quick. In two-and-a-half months, they learned a lot of water polo that they didn’t know in the beginning of the season.”
The Mustangs’ varsity roster had one junior, Tia Gordon, as well as seven sophomores and three freshmen. That seems to bode well for the future at Costa Mesa.
“We’ll be back,” Serrano said. “I think it’s a great thing that we made it [to CIF]. I think it’s a great experience, for the younger girls that we have on the team like Alessia and Michelle. The season overall was a great one. We had a great, fun time with these girls. A lot of them were so new to it, they really wanted just to learn, to pick up how to play. I think that was the best part.”
