Sea Kings keep on surging in rankings

CORONA DEL MAR — The fourth-ranked Corona del Mar High Sea Kings showed why they have been moving up the CIF Southern Section Division I rankings beating Long Beach Wilson 14-7 on sophomore Max Bergeson’s five goals .

The game started fast and productive for Corona del Mar when it scored five goals on eight shot attempts in the first quarter, giving it the early 5-0 lead.

With a big early lead, it looked like the Sea Kings would run away with it.

But that is why they play four quarters.

Wilson gave its best offensive push in the second quarter, scoring four goals but could not stop the Sea Kings’ consistent attack, putting up with three goals of their own.

Corona del Mar looked like a two-man team during the first half with Bergeson and senior Chris Cottrell accounting for five of the first eight goals their team scored.

Bergeson had two steals and Cottrell contributed three assists.

They controlled the pace, the passing and the flow of the match for the first 14 minutes.

“I think Cottrell played an excellent game today, setting up nice passes and he played great defense,” CdM Coach Barry O’Dea said of his senior leader.

Corona del Mar’s defense took over the rest of the game and was rock solid, allowing just three goals in the second half.

“I thought we did a nice job on pressing and taking away passing lanes today. We are giving up the shots we need to give up,” O’Dea said. “We were positioned well and we were doing a great job getting our hands up on a lot of shots.”

The Sea Kings’ coach was very happy to see his team play well against a program like Wilson which is consistently a top-10 team in the division.

“They have a great coach in Tony Martino so you never underestimate them. They are just a quality program,” O’Dea said.

Cottrell and senior Jake Schwartz both had three goals for the Sea Kings and the combination of senior Travis Leyton and sophomore Isle Anderson in goal stopped 10 shots.

CdM’s win was the perfect way to break in its pool that was just renovated.

“This was our first game back so it feels great to have a big win,” O’Dea said.

A rededication of the renovated pool is planned for Wednesday when the Sea Kings play host to Edison.

Nonleague

Corona del Mar 14, Long Beach Wilson 7

SCORE BY QUARTERS

CdM – Bergeson 5, Cottrell 3, Schwartz 3, Zepfel 1, Liao 1, Taylor 1. Saves – Layton 6, Anderson 4