Sea Kings stay on roll

Patrick Laverty

The Corona del Mar High boys soccer team did its part in an attempt

to create a Back Bay CIF Southern Section Division II semifinal, but

the Sea Kings will have to settle for a trip to Thousand Oaks.

Julien Cerutti and Dan Whitaker scored second-half goals as host

Corona del Mar knocked the defending Division II co-champions, St.

Francis, out of the playoffs with a 3-2 quarterfinal victory

Thursday.

The Sea Kings (15-3-6) will face top-seeded Thousand Oaks (25-3-3)

on Tuesday with a place in the title game on the line. The Lancers

defeated Newport Harbor, 1-0, in sudden-death overtime. Because

Thousand Oaks has had just one home game in the playoffs, compared to

two for the Sea Kings, Corona del Mar will be on the road.

While Corona del Mar was hoping for a rematch with the Sailors,

who defeated the Sea Kings, 3-0, earlier this season, Newport

Harbor’s loss certainly didn’t take any luster off the Sea Kings’

victory.

“I can’t complain,” Corona del Mar Coach Pat Callaghan said. “Once

again, it’s a great feeling. I’m happy with our team. We’re really

playing good soccer. After going through some tough times early on,

it’s been fortunate how we’ve developed. We managed to win the

[Pacific Coast League] championship and now we’re on a roll.”

That roll, which has included playoff victories over Moreno Valley

and No. 4 seed Santa Monica, appeared to be in jeopardy after St.

Francis took a 2-1 lead in the 46th minute after Pat Conway scored on

a volley off Ari Hughes’ free kick from midfield. It was the first

time the Sea Kings trailed in the postseason.

But Cerutti tied the score, 2-2, on a direct free kick five

minutes later, curling the ball over the wall and off the inside of

the near post as the St. Francis goalie stood motionless. It was a

similar free kick to the one Cerutti stuck Tuesday against St. Monica

that was tipped over the crossbar.

“It was the exact same spot as last game,” Cerutti said. “I told

Dan [Whitaker], I’ve got to take this. I knew what I wanted to do

with it.”

Whitaker got his own chance 10 minutes later. After senior

defenders Dan Marin-Finn and Parker Ferguson thwarted St. Francis

clearance attempts, midfielder Jeritt Thayer came away with the ball

along the left sideline. His perfectly lofted cross found Whitaker in

stride and the senior forward scored the go-ahead goal on a header

that he powered past the St. Francis goalie.

Though the Golden Knights (24-6-1) had a few opportunities to tie

the score over the final 20 minutes, the latter part of the second

half was nowhere near as heart-stopping as the final moments of CdM’s

second-round win over Santa Monica, when the Vikings had a number of

golden scoring chances. This time the Sea Kings’ defense seemed much

more relaxed and confident, which could be attributed to the

experience of the previous game.

“For sure,” Callaghan said. “To go through that and to understand

that we can withstand that kind of pressure, it made today a lot more

comfortable.”

St. Francis, which had two goals disallowed in the second half,

had a good scoring opportunity off a corner kick in the 72nd minute,

but Cory Azzalino headed away the initial cross and Grant Almquist

cleared Gabe Norris’ volley attempt on the rebound off the goal line.

Almost every other St. Francis shot in the second half was right

at CdM goalie Jay Zimmerman, who had six saves in the final 40

minutes and eight overall, or off target.

In the game’s first 10 minutes, the teams exchanged goals, with

Marin-Finn scoring on a header off a Dominic Rubino corner kick in

the sixth minute and St. Francis tying the score two minutes later on

a Alfonso Berumen header.

It was the second straight game the Sea Kings scored on a Rubino

corner kick and combined with Cerutti’s free kick in the second half,

the second of three consecutive goals scored on set pieces.

“At the beginning of the year, we had not [had success on set

pieces],” Callaghan said. “But we’ve worked on them a lot. That’s

such a dangerous spot, both offensively and defensively. That’s where

you can win or lose the game.”

One more win and Corona del Mar will be playing for the Division

II championship. And while an all-Back Bay semifinal would have been

fun, the Sea Kings surely won’t take top-seeded Thousand Oaks

lightly.

“Once you get to the semifinals, you know you’re going to face a

good team,” Callaghan said. “But I guess we’re a good team too.”