Claster gains more respect

CORONA DEL MAR — Cari Levine scored four goals, while Katie Indvik and Haley Prickett scored two each.

But the biggest cheers during Corona del Mar High’s 13-3 win over Edison in the Holiday Cup quarterfinals Friday were for Annie Claster.

The senior scored with 1:23 left in third quarter for the Sea Kings, who move on to play Santa Margarita at 11:45 a.m. today at Newport Harbor High in the tournament semifinals.

Claster doesn’t receive much playing time, Sea Kings Coach Aaron Chaney said. But over the summer, when the team did a survey, the CdM players voted her one of the most respected players and one of the hardest workers.

“You have girls who will ask you, ‘How come I only played a quarter,’ or ‘How come I don’t start?’” Chaney said. “Annie will never ask that. She’s all about the team, and all she does is compliment her teammates and push them… I don’t think a lot of our kids could do what she does. They respect her so much.”

Claster’s goal was only part of a dominant effort for Corona del Mar, which cruised to a 6-1 halftime lead on two goals and an assist from Levine.

But the defense was what led to an efficient Sea Kings offense. On Edison’s first three possessions of the game, all the Chargers could manage was a shot-clock violation, a CdM steal by Prickett and a dump as the clock was about to expire.

It was a welcome change from the Sea Kings’ 9-4 first-round win over Palos Verdes, which the CdM players weren’t necessarily happy with.

“We were just pressing really high in the lanes and we weren’t letting them get anything at two meters,” said Prickett of the Edison game. “We wanted to shut them down on defense, because we didn’t feel like we played good defense in the first game [against Palos Verdes].”

Another area of improvement for the Sea Kings was in their six-on-five offense, where CdM was three for three against Edison. One particularly pretty power-play goal came in the second quarter, when senior Leilani Livingston, at two meters, passed it out to Levine, who immediately passed it back.

Livingston didn’t catch the ball, but instead tipped it cross-cage past the Chargers goalie to give Corona del Mar a 5-0 lead.

“That’s called our ‘right back’ play,” Livingston said. “Our timing was just good and I guess we had the connection. We haven’t been so good on our six-on-fives lately, so it was a big deal for us to score all of our six-on-fives today. We’re really excited about that.”

Senior Paige O’Brien and junior Allison Peotter each had two steals for the Sea Kings.

The Corona del Mar players seemed confident in their chances today. If they beat Santa Margarita, the Sea Kings will face either Foothill or Back Bay rival Newport Harbor in the tournament championship game.

The title game is scheduled for today at 4:05 p.m., at Newport Harbor High. The third-place game will take place at 3 p.m.

“We’ve been having a few hard games lately,” Levine said. “For our team to have such a dominant win [against Edison] is so important … When we want it, we can do anything.

“Every single one of our varsity players can go out there and play incredibly.”

Holiday Cup

Quarterfinal

Corona del Mar 13, Edison 3

Score by Quarters

Edison 0 1 1 1 — 3 CdM 3 3 5 2 — 13

Edison -- Wilson 2, Warde 1. Saves -- Huss 4.

CdM -- Levine 4, Indvik 2, Prickett 2, Claster 1, Van Hiel 1, Peotter 1, Livingston 1, Hutchison 1. Saves -- Murphy 6, Baldoni 3.

Holiday Cup

First round

Corona del Mar 9, Palos Verdes 4

Score by Quarters

Palos Verdes 0 0 2 2 — 4 CdM 1 2 3 3 — 9

Palos Verdes -- McBee 3, Canning 1. Saves -- Robinson 9.

CdM -- Indvik 2, Levine 2, Van Hiel 2, O’Brien 1, Hutchison 1, Harkins 1. Saves -- Murphy 6.