Girls’ Water Polo: Sea Kings stuff Santa Margarita
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — Ross Sinclair hasn’t been in charge of the Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo team for that long. He’s in his second season as the coach, but Sinclair said on Saturday that he witnessed something for the first time involving his best player.
Maddie Musselman, a member of the U.S. women’s national water polo team, is in her junior season with the Sea Kings. Two games into it, Musselman fouled out, picking up her third exclusion in the third period at Santa Margarita.
Sinclair couldn’t believe it. He argued with one of the referees earlier in the match on an ejection call on Musselman, telling him, “Do you know her?” The ref turned around and told Sinclair, “I don’t care who she is.”
The Sea Kings wound up not needing Musselman the rest of the way. Others picked up the slack for CdM, which shut out Santa Margarita in the second half en route to an 8-4 nonleague win.
The difference between the Sea Kings (2-0), ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, and No. 10 Santa Margarita (4-1) was CdM’s defense. The Eagles had a dozen power-play chances, and the Sea Kings only allowed them to capitalize once.
“After 12 [opportunities], they should get one [goal], right?” Sinclair said with a grin.
Sinclair’s team began to take control after the first period. The Sea Kings went into the second period behind, 3-2. Then Musselman, Shannon Frome and Sami Pratt each recorded a goal, giving CdM a 5-3 lead.
With 27 seconds to go in the first half, Sophia Baia made it a one-goal game. She converted the Eagles’ lone power-play goal. Their other opportunities either hit the post, sailed high and wide, or CdM goalie Heidi Ritner turned the Eagles away.
Ritner, who finished with 13 saves, also benefited from the defensive play by Frome, Averi Westerman, Sarah Lawson and Grace Morgan. Frome and Morgan came through when Santa Margarita twice had two-man advantages in the second half. The first five-on-three came midway through the third period, and Frome made a field block. With 3:51 to go in the match, Morgan stole the ball.
“The girls followed the game plan 100%. We just couldn’t execute at the [offensive] end,” said Santa Margarita Coach Brian Weathersby, whose team went into the afternoon averaging 17.2 goals per game. “Our focus was to take [Musselman], drive her to the opposite side of the pool, and make sure on offense we’re driving her in every single time. By the third quarter, she had three ejections and she was out of the game.”
Even without Musselman, CdM continued to play at a high level. Sami Pratt and Frome produced a goal in the third period, giving them two apiece to lead the Sea Kings. Westerman added a goal late.
Sinclair scheduled the matchup with the Eagles earlier this season to get CdM ready for the Battle of the Bay rivalry game at Newport Harbor on Friday at 3 p.m. Santa Margarita, which is coming off back-to-back CIF Southern Section Division 2 titles, gave the Sea Kings a contest in the first half.
Sinclair expects the young Eagles to pose a threat in the postseason. Santa Margarita moved into Division 1 this season, and it got a taste of a CdM program that has reached the Division 1 finals twice in the last three seasons.
Sinclair wouldn’t be surprised to see his team play Santa Margarita in the quarterfinals. He knows if the two programs meet in the playoffs his team cannot afford to lose a player as talented as Musselman.
“[The referee] was faulting her for a poor fundamental skill that she knows in her sleep,” Sinclair said. “He said she wasn’t swimming, and she’s the best perimeter defender in the country. For me, it’s really difficult [to understand the ref’s call]. That’s like calling out LeBron James and Kobe Bryant for not being able to do a fadeaway jumper.
“She doesn’t disrespect the opponent and never takes a possession off, and that’s something that makes her who she is. I thought it was really ticky-tack for her especially. We stress defense and all of our girls know how to play [at] that defensive end. He was picking [on] a girl that is on the national team for stuff like that.”