Corona del Mar boys’ water polo edges Foothill, improves to 2-0
The Corona del Mar High boys’ water polo team returns just one starter from last year’s squad, which broke through to the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Open Division playoffs.
Luckily for the Sea Kings, that returner is 6-foot-6 senior utility player Jackson Harlan.
“Jackson’s definitely the focal point of our offense,” first-year head coach Lucas Reynolds said. “He’s kind of a mismatch nightmare. We can move him to both sides of the pool, and he can also play center. He’s a jack of all trades.”
The jack of all trades came up aces again for CdM on Tuesday.
Harlan scored a match-high five goals as the host Sea Kings edged visiting Foothill 10-8 in a nonleague match.
CdM improved to 2-0. The Sea Kings earned a 14-12 victory over Mater Dei to start their season on Aug. 22.
Some new faces planted some key roles for CdM against Foothill (0-1). Senior Micah Grantham had two goals and an assist, adding an exclusion drawn and a field block.
Grantham was one of four players with a field block in the match for the winners; senior Landon Castillo, junior Aiden Sexton and sophomore William Weir had the others.
The defense came in support of sophomore goalkeeper Colton Kozloski, who played well in making 10 saves.
Kozloski was converted to goalkeeper in January.
“I played field before,” he said. “We needed goalies, and I’m a lanky guy. I just thought maybe I’d be good at the position. I decided to stick with it, and it ended up working out for me.”
Castillo, Cooper Harlan and Koosha Mirrafati added goals for CdM.
Jackson Harlan’s goals included a nice one to give CdM a three-goal lead, helping put the match away with 1:46 left in the fourth quarter. Out a timeout, he scored a backhand from set. The play was assisted by Mirrafati, who had three helpers in the match.
Dylan Rothenberg led Foothill with a pair of goals, while John Bergstedt had a goal, a match-high four steals and a pair of assists.
Harlan is about as tall as Reynolds, a CdM program alumnus, though he may have inched ahead of his head coach. The play is also big for the UC Santa Barbara commit, as he scored five goals for the second straight match.
“I had to get a new leadership role and play a bigger part of the team,” said Harlan, who also stars in basketball for CdM. “I enjoy it. It’s kind of fun having a new team, fighting and grinding every day and trying to be the best.”
Reynolds said one team goal is to stay in the Open Division for the postseason.
“I think we’re hungry, that’s the best way to describe it,” he said. “Moving into the season, as we gather more experience, our ceiling is extremely high.”
CdM continues nonleague action on Thursday, playing at traditional rival Long Beach Wilson.
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