CdM clamps down in 10-4 win over Beckman

Members of the Corona del Mar High girls’ lacrosse team mobbed each other in front of their own goal after the final whistle.

It was that goal that visiting Beckman could never score on during Thursday’s key Pacific Coast League match at CdM.

For more than six minutes early in the second half, the Patriots had the ball in the Sea Kings’ zone, yet they couldn’t score a goal. The stretch included a frustrated timeout by the Patriots midway through, as well as three free-position shots that were saved by CdM sophomore goalie Ashley Olson.

It was championship-level defense for a CdM program trying to win its first outright league championship. The Sea Kings took a step toward that goal after blanking the Patriots in the second half to post a 10-4 victory.

Corona del Mar (6-1, 3-0 in league), ranked No. 6 in Southern California by laxpower.com, moves into first place over No. 14-ranked Beckman (4-5, 2-1), the defending league champion. The teams shared the league title in 2012 and ‘14, but CdM wants that first outright title.

The defense was outright suffocating in beating Beckman for the second time this season, the first was in the title match of the Rose Bowl Jamboree tournament in Pasadena.

On Thursday, Beckman was held scoreless after taking a 4-1 lead midway through the first half, when Taylor Stern scored her second goal. Beckman senior goalie Lili Hamada made 10 of her 13 saves in the first half, keeping the Sea Kings at bay.

But the Patriots were blanked for the final 38:08 of the game. Olson made six of her nine saves in the second half for CdM. Juniors Katie McCabe, Katherine Mulvaney and Hailey Neumann (two ground balls and an interception) also led the defensive effort, along with senior Lauren Kobayashi and freshman Joslyn Simaan.

“We were such a unit,” said CdM junior Kennedy Mulvaney, who led the Sea Kings with five goals and added an assist. “Every time they tried to break us by setting picks and stuff, we read each other’s mind and we were right where we needed to be. We’ve never played so united. We were predicting what they were going to do before they did it.”

Kennedy Mulvaney’s goal on a free-position shot at the first-half buzzer tied the score at 4-4. The Sea Kings then owned the second half.

“The girls have shown their maturity,” CdM Coach Aly Simons said. “We play two halves, and anything can change that second half, good or bad. They stepped it up.”

Kennedy Mulvaney scored early in the second half, then fellow junior Jensen Coop (three goals) added back-to-back strikes to give CdM a 7-4 lead with 21:01 remaining. Then came the extended defensive set, which was ended when McCabe cleared the ball following a free-position save from Olson.

Freshman Ellery Amdor made the second of her two assists, feeding Coop, who went top-shelf for an 8-4 advantage.

“The best feeling is when we get the other team frustrated, because we know how it feels when we’re frustrated,” said Simaan, who had a team-best two caused turnovers. “We know how bad it is and how terrible we play. Seeing the other team do that, you’re just like, ‘We have them. We can do this.’”

Olson said she appreciated the effort of Simaan. After all, it was Olson who was a freshman starter last year in goal for CdM.

“Joslyn’s really good at reading the ball,” Olson said. “I feel like she knows what the players are going to do before they even know themselves, and she’s quick to jump on that. She [works] on her instincts, and her instincts are generally always right. It’s super-cool watching that.”

Kennedy Mulvaney was checked in the face when she scored with 1:58 left, earning a yellow card for Beckman, but by then the game had been decided. Senior Caroline Bethel scored for CdM with 45 seconds left for the 10th goal.

Courtney Johnston also scored for CdM, and fellow senior co-captain Paige Nelson had three assists.

Simons cautioned about her team being overconfident the rest of the way. CdM plays at University on Monday. The second league game at Beckman is on April 18.

“It’s not just Beckman and CdM in the league,” Simons said. “We have to beat all of the teams in our league. In the past, we’ve been so focused on Beckman that Woodbridge has crept in there.”

But Thursday’s win certainly means the Sea Kings can go into spring break next week with momentum. On Monday, they beat Los Alamitos for the first time in program history.

Beating Beckman was CdM’s second tough comeback win of the year, not as tough as when the Sea Kings rallied from an 8-1 deficit to beat Santa Margarita in overtime, 13-12, on March 16.

In that game, like Thursday’s win, the Sea Kings kept their composure, which has been a problem in years past.

“I like the games where we come back,” said Olson, before starting to laugh. “Let’s not make it a habit, though.”