CdM adds to streak
IRVINE — The Corona del Mar High boys’ lacrosse team has a formula when it comes to Pacific Coast League play.
“In games like this, we try to focus as much of we can on what we’re doing and try to get to where we want it to be,” Coach G.W. Mix said.
The formula has been perfect. Each result in league since 2008 has been a win for CdM.
The Sea Kings made it look easy again, beating host University, 19-5, Monday to improve to 9-0 in league. They have won their last 37 games in the Pacific Coast League.
One league game remains. On Thursday, CdM plays host to Beckman.
The Sea Kings should close out league play with their fourth straight undefeated league championship season. No opponent in league has come close to challenging CdM this season.
“We look at it as an opportunity for … us to improve the depth of our team,” Mix said of how the Sea Kings approach league. “It’s a struggle at times to stay focused, but we certainly don’t make apologies for it. Our kids have worked very hard for a number of years to put our program in a position where these games are lopsided.
“I’m proud of what it’s taken to get to this point. If it weren’t for the effort of our kids and playing youth lacrosse, and the extra time they put in, it might be more competitive. But their hard work is the reason why it’s not.”
The work ethic has helped the Sea Kings outscore league opponents, 144-34.
University has a new coach in Andrea Gaynor, but even he is familiar with CdM’s dominating way. Gaynor coached last season at Newport Harbor, CdM’s Back Bay rival.
Gaynor cannot seem to avoid the Sea Kings.
The Sea Kings beat Gaynor’s Sailors last season, 8-1. This time, with a new team, the outcome was far worse for Gaynor.
In the opening quarter, CdM jumped out to an 8-0 lead. The visitors almost scored a goal for every minute played in the period.
Connor Canale, Michael Keasey, Connor Gaal, Chris Von Der Ahe, Taylor Epp and Jack Ortlieb each recorded at least a goal in the first. Canale, who scored two of his game-high four goals in the first 12 minutes, has stepped up since Friday, when Mix said CdM lost his son, attacker Casey Mix, for the season because of a stress fracture to his lower left leg.
From the start, the Sea Kings established who the reigning league champions are. The defense, behind Drexel-bound senior Donald Dalton, was stout.
“They are the kings,” said Gaynor, who saw his defense give up goals to 11 Sea Kings. “When I was in high school, we would play teams like that and they would represent and we would want to emulate [them].
“They have earned everything they’ve gotten. They have the pedigree. We want to be there.”
The Trojans have a ways to go before they can compete with CdM, which improved to 12-3 overall.
The Sea Kings came into the contest hungry for a victory after dropping two big nonleague matches. The losses were to two of the state’s giants, Foothill and Rancho Bernardo of San Diego, which are ranked No. 8 and No. 2, respectively, by laxpower.com.
CdM lost Friday at Rancho Bernardo, 11-3.
“Glad we scheduled them,” Mix said. “They make you pay for your mistakes and we made a sufficient number of them.”
With the U.S. Lacrosse Orange County Southern Section Division I playoffs around the corner, CdM is trying to correct its miscues and gain momentum.
The Sea Kings have two more nonleague matches left before the postseason begins. Mix wants his players to experience a couple of more competitive games before then.
The Sea Kings surely will on Wednesday, when they play St. Margaret’s, ranked ninth in the state.
The two programs were supposed to play last week at Newport Harbor, where CdM plays home games. But Mix said the stadium’s lights were not working. The game will now be at St. Margaret’s at 7 p.m., as the Sea Kings lost the home-field advantage because of the postponement.
“It’s a huge game for both teams. The winner likely gets a first-round bye in the Orange County playoffs,” said Mix, whose team has won three of the last four meetings vs. the Tartans.