Sea Kings trigger shy in setback

Steve Virgen

While the flu is reaching epidemic proportions across the nation,

there’s another type of sickness spreading on the Corona del Mar High

girls water polo team.

Sea King Coach Aaron Chaney explained the problem, and the remedy,

after his team lost, 6-1, to nonleague visitor Santa Barbara Friday.

“Everyone is waiting for the other person to do something and no

one gets anything done,” Chaney said. “It’s contagious.”

Chaney, the third-year coach who guided the Sea Kings to CIF

Southern Section Division II and IV titles in his first two years,

knows the solution. In a word: confidence.

“They need to believe in themselves,” Chaney said. “They need to

understand and believe that they can shoot the ball and score. That’s

what it comes down to.”

The Sea Kings (1-1) struggled to find scoring opportunities and

seemed to be out of sync. Chaney agreed and said part of the reason

might be from several players missing practice time because of the

flu. However, Santa Barbara’s defense had much to do with CdM’s

inefficiencies.

“We didn’t give them too many opportunities,” Dons’ Coach Mark

Walsh said. “But we both weren’t that good on the man-up plays, but

that happens early in the season.”

CdM was 0 for 6 when it had the extra player, while the Dons were

2 for 8. The lone bright spot for the Sea Kings turned out to be

junior goalie Brittany Fullen, who recorded 13 saves and four steals.

“She played very well,” Chaney said. “She’s playing with a lot of

confidence. The rest of them didn’t play with a lot of confidence.”

Santa Barbara (3-0) had built a 3-0 lead before CdM found its

first goal with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.

That’s when senior Katya Eadington connected on an outside shot from

about 12 meters out. The ball hit just inside the crossbar and

floated into the cage.

But the Dons answered 12 seconds later when senior Miranda Nichols

scored her third goal of the game. Later, with 1:35 left in the third, sophomore Camille Hewko was assessed her third ejection and

sat the rest of the contest. And, junior Katie Kubas picked up her

third kick-out, with 1:04 left before the fourth quarter.

“Our brains weren’t turned on today,” Chaney said. “We need to

work on our offense. Our passing wasn’t good.”

*--*

Nonleague

Santa Barbara 6, Corona del Mar 1

Score by Quarters

Santa Barbara 2 1 1 2 -- 6

CdM 0 0 1 0 -- 1

Santa Barbara -- Nichols 3, Craig 1, Louie 1,

Bougay 1. Saves -- May 10. CdM -- Eadington 1.

Saves -- Fullen 13.

*--*