Lead is fleeting for CdM

IRVINE — While the opposing coach a few feet away barked and repeatedly waved off one of the referees, forcing a yellow card before the fourth period, Corona del Mar High Coach Aaron Chaney calmly towered over the girls in the pool.

Just as the referee warned Newport Harbor Coach Bill Barnett about his actions, Chaney cautioned his water polo players.

The Sea Kings were seven minutes away Saturday night from being crowned CIF Southern Section Division I champions for the first time.

Up three goals, it was almost a sure thing, but it put the Sea Kings in an unusual place.

“They had never been in a situation where they’re up on Newport [Harbor] by three goals in the fourth quarter,” Chaney said. “You’re kind of in a state of, I wouldn’t say shock, but in a state of surprise, in a sense that you expect the game to be 5-4 [in your favor], or [us down 5-4]. You’re either up one or you’re down one.”

At the end, after 28 minutes of regulation time and six minutes of overtime play, CdM found itself down at Irvine High.

Chaney watched Back Bay rival Newport Harbor pull off a 6-5 come-from-behind victory, and later the previously unhappy Barnett jump into the pool to celebrate.

Barnett needed to cool off in the first meeting between the Sailors and Sea Kings in a girls’ water polo section title game. It appeared the longtime coach would suffer another championship loss to CdM in water polo, as Barnett was 1-4 as the boys’ coach against the Sea Kings.

But the No. 1-seeded Sailors (28-3) battled their way back to beat the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings (24-7), earning them their fourth Division I section crown and getting them one closer to CdM’s championship total.

The Sea Kings have claimed four Division II titles and one Division IV, but they were so close to getting the top division’s plaque for the first time. Everything looked promising for CdM heading into the fourth, making it seem like it would win its 20th game out of its last 21.

Junior Van Hiel gave the Sea Kings a 3-2 lead on a power-play goal with 5:18 left in the third. Then 27 seconds later, Newport Harbor senior Mimi Bury, the lone Sailor with section championship game experience as she was on the 2006 championship team, was ejected from the game after picking up her third exclusion.

This created a stir of emotions with Bury gone, taking with her the offensive skills which allowed her to score 36 goals before Saturday.

Barnett frantically rose from his seat to argue the call, but to no avail. The referee on the other side of the pool never heard him. Chaney explained the reason for Bury’s ejection.

“She took the ball and shoved it in [Kate] Baldoni’s face,” Chaney said. “That’s what my girls told me they saw. I didn’t see it.”

What Chaney did see was the Sea Kings build a 5-2 advantage, getting goals from junior Victoria Kennedy and a second by Van Hiel. Chaney headed into the fourth believing this title was CdM’s.

Baldoni had turned back whatever Newport Harbor fired her way, making 13 saves. But the Sailors scored three goals in the last 3:40, and the one forcing the game into overtime was sophomore Kaleigh Gilchrist’s with 36 seconds left.

After both teams failed to score in the first three-minute overtime, junior Nicolina McCall ended the Sea Kings’ hopes by scoring off a rebound with 52 seconds remaining in the second three-minute period.

“That’s a sad way to lose that championship on a rebound like that, a shove in,” said Chaney, whose team went 1-4 against Newport Harbor this season.

At the end, Chaney pointed out the reason why Newport Harbor came back from a three-goal deficit.

“You’re up three goals, you have a tendency to be a little timid. We tried to get through that,” he said. “We just stopped attacking on offense. You can’t stop doing what got us here, and that’s what we did.”

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.