HIGH SCHOOLS:

Determined to end Corona del Mar High’s CIF soccer title drought, girls’ coach Bryan Middleton elected to invest in some new tactics.

And so far, they seem to be working.

At 8-4-3, the Sea Kings eclipsed last season’s four total wins before Pacific Coast League play even started. They opened with a 1-0 win over Beckman in their league opener Tuesday.

CdM isn’t even ranked among CIF Southern Section Division II soccer programs, but Middleton is determined to coach the girls to a CIF title, something neither the CdM girls’ nor boys’ soccer team has ever won.

He hasn’t instituted any drastic changes, but they’ve made a difference nonetheless.

This year’s trip to San Francisco for the Tri-Valley Invitational was the first overnight trip the team had taken under the tutelage of the sixth-year head coach.

This was also the first year an Olympic medalist — Shannon Boxx — held a clinic with the team.

The investments might be small, but the dividends have been significant.

The soccer-related extras help break up the probable monotony of the practice-train-game routine.

“I feel that the team’s so young, I don’t want to look too far into the future, but being this young and doing this well, the future looks bright,” Middleton said. “I want to concentrate on this season, but with all the extras we’ve been doing this year, with the traveling and Shannon Boxx coming in, it sets a precedent for years to come. Hopefully, the program’s at a higher level than it was before.”

CdM took third place in the Tri-Valley invitational, winning two games and tying the other two. But just being stuck with the same group of girls for three days had an effect.

“I thought, for team bonding purposes that the trip would be good,” Middleton said. “But it was a bonus that we played well and we had good results.”

Middleton thought right.

The dynamics of player relationships, on any team, are important, but with girls, positive relationships tend to provide an added bonus. So says Andrea Becker, an assistant professor of sports psychology at Cal State Fullerton.

“Female athletes actually value cohesion more than male athletes,” Becker said. “When there is a problem, it distracts. They’re thinking about what their teammate is thinking, or what they were fighting about in the previous week. It carries over into the sport environment and therefore performance can be decreased. They value the relationship aspect.”

CdM tied Amador Valley, a team with two girls’ national team players, 1-1.

Another factor that’s contributed to CdM’s winning ways? Its seniors.

Alex Gorab, Alex Elias, Lexi Hensen and Katelyn Smith have essentially become Middleton’s seconds-in-command.

“They’ve been positive role models for the younger girls on the team,” Middleton said. “It helps tremendously when your senior leadership keeps everyone on the same page at practice.”

If the Sea Kings make it into the postseason, they’ll be facing teams similarly loaded with talent, from schools twice the size of CdM.

The Sea Kings aren’t perfect, however.

CdM faltered in a 4-1 loss to Laguna Beach Friday. It was the most goals the Sea Kings allowed in a single game all season. The team was missing several players, including Hensen, a captain and forward.

“Hopefully, that was our hiccup before league starts, and we got it out of our system and we can get back on track,” Middleton said.

That may be the case.

The Sea Kings faced a significant hurdle Tuesday against visiting Beckman, and pulled off a 1-0 win to open Pacific Coast League play.

Middleton had been thinking about how CdM would stop Beckman sophomore Tawni Martino, a member of the U.S. National under-15 team.

“[Beckman] started winning games because of her,” Middleton said. “If you play a team like that, especially at home, you want a positive result. You definitely want to get the win, but I would still consider a tie a positive result against Beckman. It’s a school that has a lot of soccer talent.”

Middleton ended up switching between Brynn Johson and Lauren Smits to defend Martino, and the fresh legs worked to CdM’s advantage.

Middleton and the Sea Kings are hoping to ride their wave of confidence as far as it will take them.

“If we keep playing the positive soccer like we did in the month of December,” Middleton said, “We’ll make it to the playoffs.”

 It’s better than losing, but to the Newport Harbor girls’ soccer team, tying is getting old, especially against top-level teams.

“We don’t want to tie anymore,” the girls cried to Sailors’ Coach Larry Draluck this week, after walking away from a 2-2 decision against Esperanza. It was their sixth tie.

The Aztecs (10-1-3), currently ranked second among CIF Southern Section Division I schools, recorded their third tie of the season Thursday.

It was the second tie this season Newport Harbor’s recorded against a ranked team. The Sailors (6-3-6) tied No. 4 Aliso Niguel, 1-1, Dec. 20.

Senior Carly Ruiz, who has committed to Brown, saw her first action of the season against Esperanza after suffering a facial fracture.

“She really made a difference against Esperanza,” Draluck said. “They really put a lot of pressure on us the whole game, and we were really fortunate to tie the game. I’m really looking forward to see where we’re at when we play them again.”

With all of the team’s senior leadership finally healthy, everything should be coming together for the Sailors, who face No. 1 Los Alamitos Tuesday.

Still, it will take some time for Ruiz to regain her legs after being out for so long.

“She can only make a certain amount of runs up and down the field before her gas tank goes empty,” Draluck said. “But as the season goes on and she gets more playing time, she’s just going to get better.”

 When things aren’t going so well for the Sage Hill girls’ team in terms of possession or ball control, it’s nice to have a safety net.

That’s exactly what sophomore goalkeeper Hannah MacLeod has been for the Lightning (5-7-1, 2-0 in Academy League), who are already looking ahead to Monday’s game against St. Margaret’s.

The team has had four shutouts this season, and has managed to limit opposing goals to no more than two in almost all their games.

Sage Hill gave up three goals against Calvary Chapel, and six against Santa Cruz, the season’s only aberrations.

Santa Cruz was just bigger and better,” said Lightning soccer coach Rodrigo Cid.

“It was like us playing Mater Dei, or Newport Harbor, or Corona del Mar,” Cid said. “It’s a different level.”

MacLeod’s instincts and ability to anticipate where opponents are going to shoot has been key in Sage Hill’s defense.

“If it wasn’t for Hannah, there were games we probably should have not won [that we did], and there were probably games where we should have gotten killed,” Cid said. “She’s very dedicated to her position. She’s only a sophomore, that’s the great part about it.”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].