Sea Kings claim Pacific Coast title

Bryce Alderton

Laguna Beach High girls water polo coach Rick McKee said his team

threw its best against visiting Corona del Mar Wednesday in a game

for the Pacific Coast League championship between the top two teams,

according to CIF Southern Section Division II.

Unfortunately for the Breakers, many of their shots found the

hands of CdM senior goalkeeper Brittany Fullen.

The three-year varsity starter turned away 16 shots in all, including two penalty chances, and, with the aid of a 4-0

first-quarter lead, helped CdM claim its sixth straight Pacific Coast

League title -- fifth outright -- following a 7-3 victory.

The Sea Kings’ fourth straight victory also boosted their chances

of holding onto the No. 1 ranking in CIF Division II when playoff

pairings are announced Monday.

Senior Jordan Anae led CdM (19-6, 4-0 in league) with three goals

while teammate Katie Indvik added two.

Katlin Kubas scored one goal, and, along with Fullen, powered a

defense that held the Breakers (17-6, 3-1 in league) to 1 for 7 with

a player advantage. Kubas finished with eight steals.

Fullen, dealt two ejections within the game’s first three minutes,

stopped two of three four-meter tries from senior center Addison

Doud, who had previously scored on all 11 attempts from that range

this season. Doud scored all three Breaker goals.

Fullen, the reigning CIF Division II Player of the Year, reached

with her left arm to turn away Doud’s first attempt early in the

first period and CdM up, 1-0.

Then, with CdM leading, 5-2, as time expired in the third period,

Fullen dove to her right to halt Doud’s skip shot, eliciting roars

from the CdM cheering section that tried to best a Breaker fan base

that swelled by the second half with the arrival of several students,

some of whom camped out behind the CdM goal.

“I felt the cage was this big,” Fullen said, spreading her hands a

foot apart. “I felt good positioning [Wednesday]. I knew where the

shot was going.”

Doud took 15 of Laguna’s 22 shots (68.1%), which also included two

point-blank field attempts Fullen stopped in the fourth quarter.

“That was Brittany’s best game of the whole season,” CdM Coach

Aaron Chaney said. “She said the guys standing behind the goal pumped

her up.”

Fullen said she heard observers calling her “animal” while Chaney

termed some opposing fans’ comments “uncalled for.”

McKee said he told the group to quiet down in the fourth quarter,

just when CdM began its final push.

Junior Camille Hewko, who sat out two days of practice this week

while nursing tendinitis in her left bicep, finished with one assist,

drew two ejections in the fourth quarter. The latter led Indvik’s

second goal on a four-meter attempt, giving the Sea Kings a 7-2 edge

with 2:11 remaining.

Chelsea Lyman added one goal while Cari Levine and Indvik each

tallied two assists.

Chaney said discipline on offense allowed the Sea Kings, who were

without starting junior Ashley Chandler (sprained pinkie finger on

her shooting hand), to forge a 4-0 lead.

Pacific Coast League

Corona del Mar 7,

Laguna Beach 3

Score by Quarters

*--*

CdM 4 0 1 2 -- 7

LB 0 2 0 1 -- 3

*--*

CdM -- Anae 3, Indvik 2, Kubas 1, Lyman 1. Saves -- Fullen 16.

LB -- Doud 3. Saves -- Thomson 8.