Girls’ Water Polo: Three teams in CIF mix
All three of the Newport-Mesa girls’ water polo teams to make the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs — Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor and Costa Mesa — enter the postseason with some degree of momentum.
The brackets were released Saturday, and the Sea Kings, Sailors and Mustangs all open the playoffs on Wednesday with first-round games scheduled for 5 p.m. Of the three teams, only Corona del Mar opens at home.
CdM (19-8), the Pacific Coast League champion, plays host to Villa Park (14-10), the second-place team from the Crestview League.
Newport Harbor (12-15), the second-place team from the Sunset League, will play at Trinity League runner-up Mater Dei (20-7).
Costa Mesa (14-11), which finished second in the Orange Coast League, plays at No. 3-seeded and Channel League champion San Marcos (23-3).
The Sea Kings have played Villa Park once before this season. They defeated the Spartans, 16-5, in the first round of the Irvine Southern California Championships on Feb. 5.
“As I recall, they had two or three good shooters,” said CdM Coach Kevin Ricks, whose team did not have too much trouble containing Villa Park in that matchup.
If CdM beats Villa Park, it will likely play San Marcos for the fourth time this season in the quarterfinals. San Marcos has won the first three meetings, though the last two both went to sudden-death overtime.
“I think San Marcos is obviously one of the toughest teams in the division,” Ricks said. “Our girls need to stay focused on the first game in front of us, but if we do a good job on Wednesday that next one’s going to be a big challenge. They have a lot of talent and some good depth, and it’s going to be up to us to get off to a good start and try to put together four quarters against a really strong team.”
Ricks likes the way his team is playing headed into CIF after a strong fifth-place finish at the Irvine SoCal Championships, where CdM rebounded from a quarterfinal loss to San Marcos to record wins over El Toro and Simi Valley Royal. Emerging junior Jaleh Moaddeli leads CdM with 69 goals this season. UCLA-bound senior center Bridgett Storm, who was slowed by sickness at the SoCal Championships, has 48. Michigan-bound senior goalie Heidi Ritner, who earned Most Outstanding Goalie honors at the SoCal Championships, is another standout for the Sea Kings, who finished sixth in the final Division 1 poll.
“Bridgett’s definitely playing with a little more energy,” Ricks said of Storm, who scored a combined eight goals in league wins over Northwood and Irvine this week. “I don’t think she’s 100% but I think she continues to get closer. Hopefully in a couple of days, she’s feeling even better.”
Newport Harbor, which was 10th in the final Division 1 poll, has one of the more intriguing first-round matchups as it travels to No. 7-ranked Mater Dei. The teams met earlier this season in a ninth-place semifinal at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, and the Monarchs won, 9-7.
“I think it’s a good matchup,” Newport Harbor Coach Brian Melstrom said. “We’re going to have to be on our ‘A’ game to go into Mater Dei and pull that one off.”
Seniors Katie Kearns (44 goals) and Sammie Garcia (43) pace the Sailors, who go into the playoffs with a pair of lopsided victories. One was over Los Alamitos, 10-2, in the 13th-place game of the SoCal Championships. The second was over Edison, 12-2, in a Sunset League finale on Wednesday night.
The Sailors are young, as only Kearns and Garcia have any CIF playoff experience. Still, Melstrom said he was excited for the postseason to arrive after what he called “a roller-coaster ride of a season” that included six one-goal losses.
“I think the game could go either way,” he said.
Newport Harbor would more-than-likely play top-seeded, two-time defending champion Laguna Beach in the quarterfinals if it can get past Mater Dei.
Costa Mesa, meanwhile, has a 138-mile road trip to San Marcos in the first round. The Mustangs come into the playoffs hot as they’ve won six straight games, including a 12-4 win at Saddleback on Wednesday that earned them second place in league.
“I let the girls know, any given day any team can be beaten,” Costa Mesa Coach Dustin Serrano said. “We’re going to go in there and compete. We’ll be as prepared as we can be, and we’re hoping for the best.”
Sophomore Alessia Vitiello (62 goals) and freshman Sofia Rice (46) pace Mesa in scoring, and junior goalie Michelle Vu is second in Orange County with 287 saves. The Mustangs have just one senior, defender Tia Gordon.
“I love that we finished with a winning record, finished second in league,” Serrano said. “It’s very exciting for the future of Costa Mesa High School water polo.”
