Boys soccer: Sea Kings head off Mustangs, 2-0

Richard Dunn

CORONA DEL MAR - Amid all the bumps and bruises, Corona del Mar

High senior John Schrank escaped with the biggest blow.

To cap a thrill-a-minute second half, Schrank provided the host Sea

Kings with a last-minute cushion in their 2-0 Pacific Coast League boys

soccer victory Friday over Costa Mesa.

After the Sea Kings were clinging to a one-goal lead throughout the

second half, Schrank added the finishing touch by blocking a Costa Mesa

pass with his body, then controlled the ball and scored in the 79th

minute.

“That second goal was very characteristic of (Schrank),” CdM Coach

Scott Dameron said. “It was a very hard-working goal.”

Corona del Mar (8-5, 2-2 in PCL), which snapped a two-game losing

streak, went ahead in the first half, 1-0, when sophomore Aldo Bautista

scored on a header in the 36th minute on an assist from Schrank,

following a throw-in from senior Kevin Kramer.

“This loss really hurts our opportunity to move up (in the PCL

standings),” said Costa Mesa Coach Mike Dunn, whose team fell to 3-9-5,

0-2-2. “We haven’t been able to score a goal, and you can’t win without

scoring.”

Aside from missed scoring opportunities from both schools in the

second half, play got rough, though only one red card was issued (on

Mesa’s Jose Perez, for elbowing Bautista in the chest in the 75th

minute).

“There was a physical team on both sides, but I don’t think that

bothers us -- it doesn’t bother me,” Dunn said. “I thought (our guys)

played a good game.

“We had to push up to try to tie or win the game, and by doing that we

gave up the second goal. We had four or five or six guys pushing forward,

and that left us short in the back. But it was a pretty even game. We

attacked more in the second half, and I think (the Sea Kings) took us in

the first half. It was a good effort for Corona del Mar.”

CdM’s defense held the Mustangs without a shot attempt in the first

half, while senior goalie Cedric Chun had one save in the second half.

In the 74th minute, Mesa’s Perez fired from 25 yards out, but the ball

sailed high and skimmed the back of the net on the way down. A minute

later, he received his red card (and subsequent one-game suspension when

the Mustangs play at Estancia next Friday).

The Mustangs entered the intradistrict game with back-to-back

shutouts, after tying University and Laguna Beach at nil. In their

contest Wednesday against Laguna Beach, Mesa goalie Justin Schoettler had

six saves. Schoettler, a junior, had four saves against CdM.

“We knew (the Mustangs) would be a good defensive team, because their

last two games were 0-0 ties,” Dameron said. “We knew we had to work hard

to get any goals against them, and we knew we had to try to win the loose

balls up front. We did a better job of that today (than in the last two

games).”

Senior sweeper Mike Palazolla played solid defense for Corona del Mar,

while Dan Marshall was strong in front of him at center/midfield, Dameron

said.

Schrank’s goal was his team-leading sixth of the campaign. Midfielder

Shogo Fujii came up big defensively for CdM, while senior teammate Adam

Hoyt was solid throughout. The Sea Kings travel to Laguna Beach next

Friday to begin the second round of PCL action.