Corona del Mar boys’ water polo sprints past Foothill
The Corona del Mar High boys’ water polo team has two sets of brothers this year.
Senior Camren Simoncelli and sophomore Nathan Simoncelli are both on varsity, and the same is true for junior Jackson Harlan and sophomore Cooper Harlan.
A family atmosphere doesn’t stop there, however.
The Sea Kings have a veteran group with nine seniors, yet they have been able to mix talented underclassmen into the mix. The result is potentially the best CdM team in years.
The players showed that potential Tuesday afternoon, blitzing a talented Foothill squad on the road and earning a 15-6 victory in Corona del Mar’s season opener.
Senior left-hander Luke Zimmerman scored three goals, while Camren Simoncelli, Cooper Harlan, senior co-captain Carson Simonson and senior Noah Gerard each scored twice.
“We’re enjoying the moment,” said CdM coach Kareem Captain, who had six seniors in his starting lineup. “I’ve been with this group for a while now. This is the group that came in as freshmen during the COVID season, so it’s been a grind for them. We have a 28-game season coming up here, and we talk a lot about just enjoying the moment, showing up every single game and coming out strong.”
The Sea Kings were quick. After taking a 7-3 halftime lead, they scored four goals in the first four minutes of the second half to provide a knockout punch.
Each goal came on the counterattack, capped by Aiden Anavim’s six-on-five strike.
“When we counter the way we did, I’m always going to be happy,” Captan said. “To me, that’s just about effort and attitude, their willingness to work hard for each other … That third quarter was exceptional for us. If we can keep that intensity up, we’re going to be dangerous.”
Corona del Mar overcame foul trouble from its other senior co-captain, left-hander Charles Warmington, who was excluded twice in the first two minutes of the game. Gerard was first off the bench and scored a pair of goals.
Senior goalkeeper Chase Campbell made seven saves, and Warmington and freshman Kooshna Mirrafati also scored for the deep Sea Kings.
Brody Metz and Will Griswold each had two goals for Foothill (1-1), a CIF Southern Section Division 1 finalist last year. Knights goalkeeper Edric Scott made nine saves.
CdM advanced to the Division 1 semifinals last year. The Sea Kings have not played in the top playoff division since 2016, but they’re aiming to change that this year and advance to the eight-team Open Division.
“We’re super-excited,” Simonson said. “We’ve been working together for four years. Some of us have been varsity since freshmen, and we want to see what we can do this year … We were the young ones for a while, and it’s cool to now be on the other side of that.”
CdM returns to action Thursday when it hosts rival Long Beach Wilson at 4 p.m. Next on the schedule is the Santa Barbara Invitational, which will also feature Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach and begins Sept. 7.
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