Sea Kings move on

CORONA DEL MAR — It won’t be a form of punishment, but the Corona del Mar High girls’ soccer team will practice hard today and Saturday.

The Sea Kings figure they need some heavy training because they didn’t get much of a game in their first-round matchup of the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs Thursday.

After a sluggish first half, Corona del Mar (11-4-7) showed aggressive play and dominated with four goals after halftime on its way to a 5-0 win over visiting Rowland of Rowland Heights.

The score could have actually been more damaging for the Raiders, as three CdM goals were nullified after penalties. Also, the Sea Kings failed to put away several scoring chances in the first half.

Sophomore forward Tessa Andujar had two goals and an assist to lead Corona del Mar. Her assist came in the fourth minute, when junior Hayley Raguse put it away for the early 1-0 lead. While the Sea Kings continued to dominate play, they irked their coach, Bryan Middleton, by missing on so many shots and letting Rowland hang around.

Middleton had seen enough and he expressed his concern to his players during halftime. He feared complacency with a 1-0 lead. He just wanted his team to put away the Raiders (9-11-3).

Last week, the Sea Kings couldn’t capitalize on their scoring chances and lost 1-0 at Laguna Hills. They were forced to share the Pacific Coast League title with University, but still won its first league championship since 2001.

Thursday’s situation was a bit different because the level of competition, but Middleton still wanted the Sea Kings to take advantage of their opportunities.

“In a game like this you have to make sure you are finishing your opportunities,” Middleton said of what he told his players at halftime. “All it takes is one mistake in the back and it’s a different game.”

Sophomore Scarlett Fallon was a defender who made sure the Raiders wouldn’t be able to score. Rowland hardly crossed midfield and never really had any chance to score. The Raiders never had a shot on goal.

With sophomore sweeper Kaylee O’Connor controlling the back, Rowland couldn’t even come close to the net, setting up an easy day for goalies Sarah Cox and Lindsey Luke.

“Playing against a team that is not up to our standards, I think in a way it brings us down to their level because if they start making stupid making mistakes then we are making stupid mistakes,” Fallon said. “It gets too easy and we are not in the game. But in this game we wanted to stay focused and we were able to do that.”

CdM scored four minutes into the second half when junior Lauren Smits’ bending free kick from 10 yards out landed in the top right corner of the goal. Then the Sea Kings added three more scores in the final eight minutes.

“It was difficult,” Middleton said of the first-round matchup. “The level of play isn’t what we are used to in our league or even [in matches before league play]. In all honesty, it took a halftime talk to get the girls motivated to play.

“We were pretty slow in the first half and didn’t take advantage of our opportunities, but in the second half we played how I wanted them to play and it showed with four goals in the half.”

Middleton wasn’t planning for tough practices today and Saturday, but he said he needed to so that they would be prepared for Tuesday’s second-round match. The Sea Kings will face Canyon of Canyon Country at a site to be determined by coin flip today.

Canyon blew past Burroughs of Burbank, 8-0, in the first round. A home match for CdM would be ideal for the Sea Kings, who remained unbeaten on their field, improving to 7-0-3.

Andujar made sure the Sea Kings would lock up another win at home.

She came up with a goal in the 72nd minute, scoring off a rebound.

Junior Brooke Demiranda fired a shot that caromed off the goalie and the ball rolled in front of Andujar, who easily put it away with no one around her. In the 77th minute, Andujar drew a foul in the box and made good on the ensuing penalty kick.

Demiranda closed out the scoring with a goal in the final minute when the Raiders were desperately trying to clear the ball.

STEVE VIRGEN may be reached at (714) 966-4616 or by e-mail at steve.virgen@latimes.com.