CdM can’t keep up

MISSION VIEJO — There are three Mulvaney sisters on the field this year for the Corona del Mar High girls’ lacrosse team.

Senior Kendall Mulvaney, one of four team captains, is joined by her freshman twin sisters Kennedy and Katherine. All three played substantial minutes in Thursday evening’s nonleague game at Capistrano Valley.

There was only one Eggeman out there for the Cougars.

It just felt like more.

Senior Riley Eggeman scored eight goals as Capo Valley rolled over the Sea Kings, 16-6.

Eggeman, bound for the University of Denver, is last year’s Sea View League MVP and Orange County Player of the Year. She is hoping to engineer a big senior season for powerhouse Capo Valley (4-0), which is ranked No. 3 in Southern California by laxpower.com.

But Kendall Mulvaney, who also is headed to Denver but for soccer, hopes to do the same for the Sea Kings, ranked No. 18 in Southern California. She and the other senior captains, fellow attackers Kacie Kline and Sabrina “Bean” Smith as well as midfielder Jamie Smith, have plenty of varsity experience.

The Sea Kings (2-3) played Capo Valley even in the second half, but the deficit was far too much to overcome. Eggeman scored six of her goals in the first half as Capo Valley opened up a 12-2 halftime advantage.

“This has been the key to all of the games we’ve played,” said CdM Coach Aly Simons (formerly Vislocky). “We have moments where we look great, and we have moments where we don’t look good. In those moments, the other team tends to capitalize ... but if we can clean up those moments that we’re down and play our game the whole time, I’m confident we can compete at that level.

“We adjust well in the second half, but I don’t think it should take a half for us to figure that out. It needs to be done earlier. But again, at the girls’ best, I’m very confident in how they play. The Aliso Niguel game, we were in it the whole game. We lost [15-14], but we were in it. I’m using that game as like our baseline. I’m going to hold them to that high standard, because I know they can do it. “

Sabrina Smith scored all three of her goals for CdM in the second half. She was given the game ball by Simons after she also racked up a team-best eight ground balls, and controlled four draws.

Kline scored twice, and Kendall Mulvaney dished out three assists, while Kennedy Mulvaney also had an assist. Senior goalie Kate Allen made seven saves, and the defense was led by players like Jamie Smith and fellow senior Taryn Beaufort, who drew a charge in the first half.

Sophomore Payton Carter also scored for the Sea Kings, who were behind just 3-2 early but went more than 21 minutes without scoring, until Sabrina Smith found the back of the net early in the second half.

“I think we’re kind of still getting into it and trying to figure out how this team plays,” Sabrina Smith said. “We have a lot of young players this year and we haven’t really played together.”

Simons, in her sixth year at the helm, believes the Sea Kings will be fine by the end of the season. Two years ago, they made a memorable underdog run to the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section South Division title match. Last year, CdM fell in the first round of the playoffs in overtime to Trabuco Hills.

“We have as much potential, if not more, than we’ve had in the past,” Simons said. “We have five freshmen, and a lot of them are starting. We have depth to this team. I’m really excited about it, and I’m trying not to get discouraged by some of these losses that we’re having. I know by the end of the season, we’ll be in it. We’re fast, our shooting is better than it’s ever been and our defense is strong.”

CdM indeed has played a tough schedule early on. Aliso Niguel is ranked No. 9 in Southern California. The other loss was to Mater Dei, ranked No. 6.

The Sea Kings hope it pays off as they open Pacific Coast League play Monday, at home against Irvine. Last year CdM finished tied for second in league with Woodbridge, behind rival Beckman.

Beckman is ranked No. 7 in Southern California. The Sea Kings and Patriots have two league meetings this year, April 2 at CdM and April 28 at Beckman.

“We’ve really played difficult teams so far, and I think that’s really going to give us an edge for league,” Sabrina Smith said. “It’s going to be really interesting. [Beckman’s] a very good team and they have a lot of seniors. It’s going to be an exciting game, I think.”