CdM wins with ease

CORONA DEL MAR — Andrew Noto thought his day was going to get easier.

Late in the fourth quarter a youngster fired empty water containers at the Corona del Mar High goalie. Noto let them fly right past him.

One almost hit the junior in the face. Noto just laughed while on the bench with his mask off.

The kid’s shots were the hardest Noto faced Monday. The Sea Kings easily beat visiting Tesoro, 16-2, in the opening round of the Orange County Championship boys’ lacrosse tournament.

Eventually Noto picked up the boy, putting an end to the horseplay. Noto understands there won’t be any time to mess around in the next round of the eight-team tournament.

The No. 2-seeded Sea Kings (16-3) play at No. 3-seeded St. Margaret’s (15-2) in the semifinals Wednesday at 5 p.m.

“Definitely,” Noto said of the game being a lot closer than Monday’s contest.

These two teams are two of the top-ranked programs in the CIF Southern Section. CdM is No. 2 by laxpower.com, St. Margaret’s No. 3. The winner earns the right to compete for the title Friday.

The Sea Kings took care of business right away against No. 7-seeded Tesoro (13-4).

Five different players scored in the first half, giving CdM a 9-0 advantage by halftime. Tesoro Coach Brian Eisenberg had to look at the portable scoreboard a couple of times to make sure the score was correct.

Eisenberg appeared stunned at how the Sea Kings managed to score at will, handing his team its most lopsided defeat this season. Three more goals and the referees were ready to signal for a running clock.

“Our defense has been our strength the whole year,” said Eisenberg, who guided Tesoro to a South Coast League title and a 10-0 league record. “It goes to show how good they’re offense is.”

The Sea Kings, the Pacific Coast League champs, showcased an offensive clinic. The attack came in a variety ways.

Junior midfielder Noah Molnar muscled his way through the defense for a game-high five goals. Attacker junior Dave Kidushim raced past defenders for three goals. His older brother, senior Mike Kidushim, scored three times in traffic and then found others to score, assisting on three goals.

No wonder it’s difficult to stop CdM, ranked No. 5 in the state. To make matters worse for Tesoro, Coach Mark Todd and his assistants continued to push the Sea Kings throughout, making sure the intensity never faded.

“We’ve played some tough competition this season out of [league],” said Todd, referring to games against three of the state’s best, No. 1 St. Ignatius Prep of San Francisco, No. 8 Palos Verdes and No. 9 De La Salle of Concord, as well Mount St. Joseph, No. 13 in Maryland.

“We’re really excited to get some additional tough competition. This is the [opening round] of the playoffs, so we thought it’s about as good as it’s going to get. It will get tougher from here, though.”

The last meeting between CdM and St. Margaret’s proved to be a low-scoring battle. The Sea Kings won, 6-4, on March 5. It was early in the season, but one thing standing out other than CdM jumping ahead, 5-0, and allowing the host Tartans to rally was St. Margaret’s play.

“They’re just not [a] very classy team,” said Dave Kidushim, adding that the Tartans, the Trinity League champs, committed “just a lot of penalties, a lot of late hits, just talking after the whistle.”

Now that can agitate you more than a kid throwing a water container at you.

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