Newport Harbor rallies for Battle of the Bay girls’ soccer draw with CdM

The Corona del Mar High girls’ soccer team usually goes into the Battle of the Bay game as the higher-ranked team, but rival Newport Harbor is usually able to play up to the Sea Kings’ level.

Both trends remained true on Thursday afternoon at a windy CdM field, as the teams battled to a 1-1 draw in the latest edition of the rivalry game.

Senior Ava McKenzie scored in the 10th minute for the Sea Kings, ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division 2. But Newport Harbor, tied for 10th in Division 2, responded with a goal from senior captain Scout Farmer in the 30th minute.

The goal seemed to energize the Sailors in the second half, as they spent much of the time in the Sea Kings’ end but couldn’t quite find the go-ahead goal.

Still, Newport Harbor improved to 1-0-3 in Battle of the Bay games since CdM’s last rivalry series win in 2012. The game was rained out last season.

“We knew it was going to be a hard game, but the intensity of the Battle of the Bay kind of brought out the best in us,” Newport Harbor senior center back and team captain Ashlee Young said. “Even though they’re ranked higher and the odds were kind of against us, we were able to go to their level and play really good soccer.”

The Sea Kings (5-2-3) controlled the action early. It paid off as the McKenzie sisters hooked up for a goal.

Junior center back Alyssa McKenzie played a high, looping ball at midfield to Ava McKenzie, and it found her feet near the top of the box. Newport Harbor senior goalkeeper Bryana Esparza charged out, and Ava was able to put it past her for the goal.

But shots from the Sea Kings also hit the crossbar twice in the first half.

“We should have put way more away in the first half,” CdM coach Bryan Middleton said. “It just didn’t happen. It’s unfortunate, but we’ll learn from it. The first 20 minutes, we played our game. We were playing possession and going right at them, but I think the excitement of the game got to the girls a little bit.”

The Sailors (5-3-2) got the equalizer in the 30th minute, after a long throw-in from freshman Alyssa Sims went to Farmer in the box. She was able to stick it in just inside the right post for her fourth goal of the season.

“We’ve been practicing it for a little while,” said Newport Harbor coach Justin Schroeder, who substituted Sims into the game for the throw-in. “That’s the first one we’ve scored off of that long throw. Better late than never.”

CdM lost Alyssa McKenzie to a right quadriceps injury late in the first half, as she went down immediately after taking a free kick. Freshman Avery Doherty subbed in at center back for the remainder of the game.

“It doesn’t look good,” Middleton said of McKenzie’s injury. “It was a pulled quad, and now it’s probably a torn quad.”

Newport Harbor had arguably the best second-half scoring chance in the 75th minute, after junior Helen Coyne was fouled on the left side about 10 yards out. Skylynn Rodriguez’s free kick connected with fellow sophomore Nicole Laz near the back post, but the shot sailed over the net.

Coyne cleared a CdM corner kick out of danger in the closing moments. On the other end, Sea Kings keeper Giovanna Broderick (three saves) was able to handle Newport Harbor freshman midfielder Reese Bodas’ sliding shot in the box just before the final whistle.

Other leaders for CdM defensively included senior Julie Bartz, junior Emily Mickelsen and sophomore Alex Ianni, while senior Andie Lee and freshman Jenna McConnaughey helped anchor the Sailors on defense.

Newport Harbor returns to action Dec. 27, when the Sailors have North Orange County Classic pool-play games at home against Pacifica (8 a.m.) and Upland (3 p.m.). CdM is off until it plays host to Laguna Beach in a nonleague game on Jan. 5.

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UPDATES:

8:30 p.m.: This article was updated with the correct spelling of Alyssa Sims’ last name.

This article was originally published at 7:35 p.m.