Chaos ensued last Friday when CdM’s soccer boys made CdM history and won CIF finals.  The Sea Kings played La Mirada in Mission Viejo.  Students disregarded the short distance and turned out in fine form.  Hundreds of supporters came to cheer on the boys.  CdM had the distinction of being the school with the biggest turnout.  Senior Chris Burke liked the turnout.  “It was really nice to know that the school cared about our team.”

Students wait anxiously for the game to be over

The game, with a score of 2-0, was nerve-wracking, to say the least.  A goal was not scored until the middle of the second half by senior Ali Sadri, which meant that the entire first half was punctuated by spurts of screaming and groaning as CdM missed goal after goal.

Junior Kjell Wolker was down with a dislocated shoulder, but got it popped back in and went back into the game.  Shortly after he went back in, he was taken down, and dislocated his shoulder again.  He was then out for the rest of the game.  Senior Paul Zubatov was also injured.  After going for a header against a La Mirada player, he was elbowed in the head, then fell to the ground, hitting his head again.  A player then tripped over him.  Zubatov stayed down, but eventually got up and kept on playing.  He finished the half, but Coach Greg Larssen sidelined him after Zubatov couldn’t remember anything during halftime.  “He was like, did I play well?  Coach, you gotta tell me if I played well.  We’re playing in the finals, right?” said Sadri. 

Zubatov went to the ER and was diagnosed with a concussion.  He was released and ready to celebrate with his team the next day though.

Burke commented on his teammates injuries.  [Zubatov] and [Wolker] are both key players to our team.  Having them hurt was something that scared our team.  Luckily, everyone stepped up and did what they had to win the game.”

La Mirada went into the game undefeated.  But Burke wasn’t too worried.  “I was a little nervous, but I was confident that if we played our game then we could win.”

About 20 minutes into the second half, senior Reed Williams was tripped, but the ref failed to call a foul.  Angered, senior Alex Mainthow tripped a La Mirada player hard, and got a yellow card.  Temporarily benched, Coach Larssen had to find a replacement, and chose Sadri.  When asked how he felt when he got to go in, Sadri replied, “Finally!  I wanted to go in so bad.  We lost Kjell [Wolker] and Paul [Zubatov], and I felt the game slipping in [La Mirada's] favor.  I knew it would come down to the final moments.” 

Sadri waves to the fans

However, after Sadri kicked the goal, he did not think it was going to go in.  “It was a bad shot, but the turf field let it skip.  I was thinking, did I actually do this?  It’s a dream come true.  I’ve had this dream since I first found out what CIF was.  When Reed [Williams] scored, I knew the dream was coming true.”

“Words cannot describe [Sadri's goal," said Burke.

After his goal, the excitement was almost tangible.  Sadri's grin threatened to split his face, and as he was tackled by his teammates, Sadri was all but jumping up and down.  "I'm super excited," said Sadri.  "I've gotten hugs, congratulations from people I don't even know.  I was in Pavilions, and some adults came up and congratulated me.  It's the best feeling."

Fans storm the field

After Williams scored his goal, he ran around the field, making his teammates catch him.  He was also tackled to the ground, and this time, CdM students rushed to the fence.  At this point, there was about ten minutes left in the game, and CdM knew they had it in the bag.  Students chanted down the last tweleve seconds of the game, and, regardless of the security guards and announcements over the loud speaker, stormed the field.  Sadri and Williams were the first to celebrate on the team, but the rest of the boys quickly made their way over to form a giant dogpile.  Players were put up onto shoulders as students rushed to join the boys, and the security guards just watched as hundreds of screaming teenagers jumped the fence.

The boys played their first state game on Tuesday against Castle Park.  They were tied 2-2 at the end of the game, and ended up battling in penalty kicks.  The score ended up 5-4, CdM, with sophomore goalie Connor Gaal saving two goals and junior Brian Ford making the winning penalty kick.  Congratulations CdM!  The boys are scheduled to play on Thursday, time and place to be determined.

Congratulations are due to the boys varsity soccer team who won, for the first time in CdM’s history, the semi-final game for CIF on March 2.  The boys played North Torrance, and beat them, 3-0, with goals by freshman Jack McBean, junior Brian Ford, and senior Chris Burke.

The game started early, and so did the fouls.  Both teams played aggresively, each wanting the win.  McBean was yellow-carded twice throughout the game.  Two yellow cards is equal to one red card, so he was kicked out for the rest of the game.  Ford took several tumbles, as did senior Reed Williams, but the real showstopper was sophomore goalie Connor Gaal.

A one-on-one penalty kick between a North Torrance player and Gaal had everyone holding their breaths.  At this point in the game, McBean and Ford had already scored, and the Seakings wanted to keep their shutout.  North Torrance had a hard ball into the bottom right corner of the goal, but Gaal stopped it, to the obvious delight of his teammates and the fans rooting on the sidelines.

During the second half, Williams labourisly worked his way up the field time and time again.  He faced tough opposition; at times two or more players dogged his steps.  North Torrance was not about to give Williams an inch.  Instead, Williams crossed the ball, and Burke kicked it in.

Comedy was provided during the game when junior Nick Rich got hit by a wayward ball when on the sidelines, which caused a bloody nose.  Williams careened into the sidelines and fell.  Senior Paul Zubatov ran over and asked the spectators if they were okay before helping Williams up and running back into the game.  Perhaps the most interesting was sophomore Matt Francini’s jersey, which was missing a rather large portion of material under one of his arms.

One of the highlights from the sidelines was seeing some of the players excited smiles.  Seniors Ali Sadri, Ryan Kontra, and Elliot Waniek all had big grins before running onto the field.  Waniek was especially happy as he has been sidelined for most of the season due to an injury.

The boys are scheduled to play in the finals against La Mirada in Mission Viejo on Friday, March 5, at 7pm.  Good luck Seakings!

Boys join the fans in cheering

It was below sixty degrees, but that didn’t stop CdM’s varsity boy’s soccer team.  They played Sage Hill High School on December 9.  Although CdM won, three to one, neither team had the upper hand for the whole game.

Freshman Jack Gorab heads to goal

UCLA-bound senior Reed Williams scored two goals.  Junior Clayton Rinehart scored a goal as well.  CdM had many shots, but most went straight to the goalie.

Sophomore Conner Gaal played the first half in goal.  He let in only one of the multiple shots on goal by Sage.  Senior Alex Mainthow played the second half in goal, blocking all shots.

CdM played an aggressive game, fouling Sage several times and kicking balls both into the stands and over the fences.

On December 11, the boys played Woodbridge.  It was raining, but that just made it easier for the boys to slide tackle.  The Woodbridge game was even more aggressive than the Sage one.  Jerseys were pulled, knees were kicked, and multiple players had to take a minute to pick themselves up.

Freshman Jack McBean

Williams scored twice again, along with junior Brian Ford.  Senior Paul Zubatov scored once off a penalty kick, and freshman Jack McBean scored once as well.

Willliams was named Daily Pilot’s athlete of the week.  “What makes you a good player,” he said to the Pilot, “is being able to think really quickly, or sometimes being able to act without thinking.”

The stands were packed with fans from both Ventura High School and Corona del Mar High School.  Alumni, current students, and family were ready to cheer on their Varsity boys in the CIF Quarterfinals for waterpolo.

The game started off with the bagpiper that has appeared for several games.  Soon after he finished, the buzzer sounded and the boys were off.  Junior Chase Watson scored the first goal of the game in the first two minutes, giving CdM a  lead as he quickly scored two more goals, one off of a nice pass from senior Jim Krolopp.

In the second quarter, senior Max Bergeson scored two goals, and seniors Justin Papa and Blake Terry each scored one.  CdM held a lead all throughout the first half, with Ventura behind one or two points.  However, during the third quarter, the game got much tougher.  Bergeson scored another goal, as well as Papa.  Junior Evan Ramsey played a very good game.  He scored twice in the third quarter, and played well both offensively and defensively.  At the end of the quarter, CdM and Ventura were tied, 11 to 11.

The last quarter was nerve wracking.  CdM and Ventura scored one right after the other, keeping the fans keyed up and the score very close.  Watson and Ramsey each scored one goal, and Bergeson scored two.  Bergeson made the game winning goal with 4.87 seconds left in the game, winning the quarterfinals 15 to 14.

CdM was awarded two penalty shots, one from Watson and one from Emory Molnar.  Bergeson took both shots, but Ventura’s goalie blocked them, one of the few to do so.  Junior Bruce Bearer played a nice game in goal, blocking 13 goals throughout the night.

“I think the game was closer than it should have been,” said senior Katie McCormick.  “But the boys kept in control the whole time and [were] patient, especially in the last play.”

CdM plays rival Newport Harbor for the third time in the semifinals on Wednesday, November 18th at 7:00pm at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.  The past two times they faced Harbor, CdM has played hard, but lost.

Tonight, a close game was played by CdM’s varsity waterpolo team against Mater Dei.  The CdM Seakings started the game off with the first goal, but the Mater Dei Monarchs quickly grabbed the lead, and held it for the majority of the game.

Junior Bruce Bearer played an excellent game in goal.  He blocked several shots with dives, his head, and his chest.  The chants of “Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce” could be heard int he stands after every good play.

The first quarter was close.  Both seniors Max Bergeson and Michael Liao scored one goal, leading to a quarter tally of 2-2.  Junior Chase Watson scored in the second quarter.  Bergeson racked up another point on a penalty shot.  However, Mater Dei led 5-4.

Watson returned, scoring two points.  Bergeson threw another one- the game was tied 7-7 at the bottom of the third quarter.  The fourth quarter was tense.  Coach Barry O’Dea gained a yellow card after yelling at the ref.  Bergeson gained a short lead when he scored goal number eight (his fourth of the night.)  Liao tied the game back up with his second goal of the night.  Senior Justin Papa scored the game winning goal, leading the Seakings to victory, 10-9.

“[We] played an awesome game,” said senior Isle Anderson.

Corona del Mar had a tough game against Newport Harbor this past Saturday.  The infamous “Battle of the Bay” game was bright and sunny.  The Sea Kings were pumped and ready to go.

Senior Max Bergeson had five goals, including one that was shot from a half-pool length away. Seniors Justin Papa (two) and Blake Terry (one) also contributed.  However, the goals weren’t enough.  Newport Harbor kept the lead throughout the whole game except for once, when both teams were tied.

Coach Barry O’Dea received a yellow card after yelling at the ref.

“We played a really good game,” said senior Michael Liao.  ”We’ll meet again this weekend, and I think we’ll win.”

Both the Frosh/Soph team and the Varsity/JV team beat Laguna Hills last Wednesday.
Junior Chase Watson started the Varsity game (played by both Varsity and Junior Varsity because Laguna does not have a JV team) with a strong backhanded goal. He scored two more throughout the game. Senior Max Bergeson scored four times, followed by junior Hayden Leech with three goals. Junior Will Havercroft scored a goal on a penalty.
Senior Isle Anderson played the first half in goal. He blocked 11 shots. Junior Bruce Bearer played for a quarter and a half, blocking four shots. Sophomore (and junior varsity goalkeeper) AJ Santa Maria played for the last three minutes of the game.
Senior Michael Liao, juniors Ari Marks and Evan Ramsey, and sophomore Emory Molnar each scored one goal for a total of 15, beating Laguna Hill’s 11 points.
The Frosh/Soph team won 12 to 3.

This past week, Corona del Mar’s varsity waterpolo team competed in the South Coast Tournament.  In their game on Friday, September 25, CdM battled Loyola.  They lost, eight to five.

Junior Chase Watson scored once, while senior Max Bergeson scored three times, leading the team.  Senior Justin Papa also scored once.

The game was an agressive one.  Fouls were constantly called on both teams.  Junior goalie Bruce Bearer played strong, blocking several shots with ease.

CdM previously played Edison on Thursday the 24th, winning 11 to 3.  Later, they played San Clemente and won 12 to 5.  They played the Bishops (La Jolla) on Saturday the 26th, winning 11 to 8.  They played again, later that day, for fifth place, but lost to Dos Pueblos 13 to 5.

CdM won sixth in the tournament, out of 25 teams in Southern California.

On Wednesday, Corona del Mar Waterpolo started off the season with a bang. Varsity boys, led by senior Michael Liao with three goals, beat Harvard-Westlake 10-8.

The game was close- the teams stayed within two points of each other for the majority of the game. With several turnovers, the game kept a fast pace. CdM played well, passing the ball to each other with a familiarity born from hours of practice. One such play resulted in junior Chase Watson’s pass to senior Blake Terry, who tossed it into the goal for his second point of the day.

Other goal scorers included Watson, junior Evan Ramsey, junior Emery Molnar, senior captain Justin Papa, and senior Andrew Fisher.

Goalie Bruce Bearer played a good game, blocking eight goals.