CdM’s Mabwa scores Sea Kings Battle of the Bay victory

Kyle Mabwa has achieved plenty on the soccer field, in the club game and at Corona del Mar High, but he topped all of it in Friday night’s Battle of the Bay showdown at Newport Harbor.

The senior forward came up with one bit of brilliance, and it was the difference in the Sea Kings’ 1-0 triumph in a chippy game that came down to two crucial moments.

Mabwa took a feed from Aidan Holmes at the top of the Sailors box 14 minutes into the second half, made a quick turn to lose a defender, then clinically finished inside the left post to deliver Corona del Mar (7-2-1) a deserved victory.

It capped an otherwise frustrating night for Mabwa, who endured physical play from the Newport Harbor defenders and so often seemed one touch away from scoring chances that did not arrive.

“A lot of these [Newport Harbor] players, I’ve played with in club and against in league, so they know how I play,” Mabwa said. “They kind of knew what I was going to do, so I needed to change how I play if I was going to score and win the game for us ... I don’t know how [the goal] happened, but it’s amazing. It just blew my mind.”

Corona del Mar held a 10-4 shot advantage but put just two attempts on frame, but Newport Harbor found it much harder to create an attack. The Sailors (4-6-0) were better when Alex Enriquez was on the ball, but he wasn’t as effective after Sea Kings goalkeeper Campbell Sheppard saved his penalty kick — the most critical moment before Mabwa’s goal — after a curious hand-ball call in the 34th minute.

Enriquez put his shot too close to Sheppard, who did well to get down to his right for the stop.

“[Sheppard] has been unbelievable, some of these saves he’s made in the preseason,” said CdM coach George Larsen, whose team has four shutouts in its past five games. “He’s basically put a whole career of highlight reels the last three weeks, and that was another one. I’d be surprised if I hadn’t watched it 20 times already this year.”

Sheppard also did well to parry Shane Piovesan’s last-minute header from a Dane Newton throw-in at the right post. Those were the only shots Newport Harbor put on target.

The Sailors defense did well under tremendous pressure to limit Corona del Mar, which pumped balls into the goalmouth from seven corner kicks and 10 long throw-ins by right back Grant Glessing. CdM nearly tallied three times on the throws, but Niko Urban nodded off the crossbar in the 14th minute, goalkeeper Carlos Prado made a huge save on another Urban try in the 49th, and Mabwa just missed in the 65th.

The Sea Kings were best on the counter, when there was space they could exploit, and that’s what led to Mabwa’s goal in the 54th minute.

“This means everything to us,” Mabwa said. “Even though [the Newport Harbor players] might be my brothers outside of school, [Corona del Mar] is my national team, this is my brotherhood. So beating them was, like, the biggest thing in the world to me right now.

“Out of everything I’ve done, having that one moment, scoring that goal and winning that game, I think that’s the biggest moment of my life right now.”

SCOTT FRENCH is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottJFrench