Corona del Mar keeps winning streak alive

cdm girls soccer gamer vs. BeckmanSea Kings had a rough nonleague season, but are out to a 3-0 start in Pacific Coast League action after getting past Beckman.NEWPORT BEACH -- It might not have been the most inspiring game the Corona del Mar High girls’ soccer team ever played, but it’ll do in a pinch. The Sea Kings allowed Beckman, playing its first year of varsity soccer, to stay in the game, but a late goal by Taylor Fallon kept their Pacific Coast League winning streak alive with a 2-1 victory on Monday.

Fallon scored on a header off of Jessica Mazura’s corner kick with 10 minutes left to break a 1-1 tie.

“I got a beautiful cross from Jessica,” Fallon said. “I hit it with the side of my head and it went in top-left. I don’t usually get many scoring opportunities because I’m a sweeper, so it was pretty exciting.”

The Sea Kings were happy to squeak out a victory on a day they lacked intensity for long stretches.

“It was night and day compared to Friday’s game on the turf at Orange Coast College (a 3-0 win over Calvary Chapel),” Corona del Mar Coach Bryan Middleton said. “We came out flat and we weren’t aggressive today. We might have taken Beckman a little lightly, and we can’t do that.”

CdM (4-7-1, 3-0 in league) opened the scoring in the first half when Kelly Morgan took a pass from Hannah Rollins and sent a cross to Rachel Yelsey. Yelsey banged it into the upper right corner of the net from 10 yards out.

Then the Sea Kings went into a deep slumber in the middle third of the game. Early in the second half, Beckman’s Kelly Knaup made a run down the middle of Corona del Mar’s 18-yard box, and a Sea Kings defender, trying to stop her, inadvertently netted an own goal to tie the score, 1-1.

The goal was a bit of a wake-up call for the Sea Kings, who came to life in the final third of the game and started creating scoring opportunities.

“I think we realized we were the better team,” Fallon said. “We were just lacking energy. Our sideline got pumped up when we realized we could lose.”

Mazura started creating chances from midfield. Kelly Morgan got loose in the box and sent a bullet inches over the cross bar.

Alex Tobiessen had an open net to shoot at when Beckman goalkeeper Shanel Shack wandered too far from the goal line, but her shot hit the post.

Then Yelsey sent a pass to Kaliegh Trider streaking down the right sideline, and her attempted cross was deflected out for a corner kick, which resulted in Fallon’s game-winner.

Shack made eight saves for Beckman. Alex Elias had four saves for CdM.

The Sea Kings opened the season 1-7-1 against tough nonleague opponents. Injuries and illness along the way didn’t help. Phoebe Chang and Hannah Rollins missed time with sprained ankles and Fallon was sidelined for two weeks with the flu.

Middleton gave his team a much-needed week off over the holidays, and his players came back healed and healthy.

“It feels good to get all our losses behind us and take positive steps forward,” Fallon said.

“There is a method to my madness,” Middleton said. “We had a hard preseason. When we made mistakes, we got punished, and that might not always be the case in the Pacific Coast League.”

Beckman, with a roster void of seniors, dropped to 8-8, 0-3.

“We’re a first-year varsity program in a tough league,” Beckman Coach Stacy Mathis said. “We’re doing all right. We’ve been beating the teams we’re supposed to beat.”

20060110D31MQ4R2No Caption20060110isuubbncKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Corona del Mar’s Kelly Morgan, left, dribbles the ball down the field as Beckman’s Kristen Sefton gives chase during Monday’s Pacific Coast League game at Corona del Mar High. CdM tries to continue its winning streak when it plays at Tesoro High on Wednesday.