CdM claims water polo crown
There is a new banner on the Corona del Mar High pool deck, stretching along the width of the pool behind the east water polo goal.
The banner highlights CdM boys’ and girls’ water polo achievements. Former head coaches Ted Newland, Cliff Hooper, John Vargas and Aaron Chaney are pictured, as well as Olympians Chris Oeding, John Mann and Tumua Anae.
“I’m pretty excited about it,” CdM boys’ water polo coach Barry O’Dea said. “I think it looks cool.”
One other thing O’Dea remains excited about is his team’s success in the Pacific Coast League, in which the Sea Kings have been downright dominant.
The Sea Kings clinched outright their 17th straight league title Tuesday by blasting University, 22-7, at home. On senior day, O’Dea said he got 24 different players into the game.
Corona del Mar (15-5, 8-0 in league), ranked No. 4 in CIF Southern Section Division 1, won its 23rd straight Pacific Coast League game. The Sea Kings have just two more games to win, at Northwood on Thursday and at Irvine on Nov. 3, to complete another undefeated league campaign.
They have lost just once in league during O’Dea’s 11-year tenure — to Northwood in 2013.
“That one loss is still the one that kind of haunts me,” O’Dea said. “I’ve put effort into winning league championships no matter where I’ve been. That’s where a season starts; your season starts with your league. You learn how to compete there. We’ve been pretty dominant, and I like that. I think it helps set an attitude, helps set a mentality, and our guys have taken that on.”
Junior center Tamir Avital led the Sea Kings with seven goals against University, and senior center Brendan Hack scored three. Hack, however, was not playing center in the fourth quarter, when the big two-meter man took — and won — the quarter-opening sprint to laughs from the CdM coaching staff.
“He’s swimming really well right now,” O’Dea said.
Senior Ben Brooks had two goals for the Sea Kings, who also got a goal apiece from seniors Foster Hoose, Tanner Roletter, Jon Polos, Vincent Ong, Ryan Cousens, Gabe Dickens, Andres White, Kevin Langley and Preston Sperry. Junior Nick Britt also scored.
O’Dea rotated his senior goalies on senior day, with Cody Armstrong (two saves), Baer Lanfried (two saves) and Tristin Ospina playing the first three quarters before junior Matt Moran, the usual starter, played the fourth quarter and made one save.
“I think it was good for us,” Roletter, who also had two assists and a field block, said of the game’s fun atmosphere. “Recently, Barry has been kind of bringing the hammer down. He has been preparing us for CIF and everything, and it’s good to get a little bit of stress off and have a little bit of fun with it.”
Cousens, Dickens and Sperry all had two steals for the Sea Kings, who opened up an 11-3 halftime lead.
Daniel Campanero led University (11-17, 1-7) with four goals. Goalie Kian Abolhoda made five saves and had three steals.
After playing at Northwood on Thursday, the Sea Kings travel to Northern California for their final tournament of the regular season. They compete in the Finis Memorial Cup on Friday and Saturday in San Jose.
O’Dea said that CdM is on the same side of the bracket as host Bellarmine Prep and Coronado. The Sea Kings have already played both teams this season. They beat Bellarmine Prep, 9-4, at the S&R Sport Cup tournament on Oct. 9, but lost to Coronado, 8-7, in the tournament’s third-place game the next day.
Since the loss to Coronado, the Sea Kings have won five straight.
“I think we’re ready for this tournament,” said Dickens, who had two steals Tuesday and also drew two penalty shots. “We’re really going to give it our all. We’re going to show that we’re a dominant team and we do have a chance at winning CIF.”
CdM concludes the regular season Nov. 5 at too-ranked Mater Dei at 4 p.m.
Twitter: @mjszabo
