Lead is fleeting for CdM

IRVINE — While the opposing coach a few feet away barked and repeatedly waved off one of the referees, forcing a yellow card before the fourth period, Corona del Mar High Coach Aaron Chaney calmly towered over the girls in the pool.

Just as the referee warned Newport Harbor Coach Bill Barnett about his actions, Chaney cautioned his water polo players.

The Sea Kings were seven minutes away Saturday night from being crowned CIF Southern Section Division I champions for the first time.

Up three goals, it was almost a sure thing, but it put the Sea Kings in an unusual place.

“They had never been in a situation where they’re up on Newport [Harbor] by three goals in the fourth quarter,” Chaney said. “You’re kind of in a state of, I wouldn’t say shock, but in a state of surprise, in a sense that you expect the game to be 5-4 [in your favor], or [us down 5-4]. You’re either up one or you’re down one.”

At the end, after 28 minutes of regulation time and six minutes of overtime play, CdM found itself down at Irvine High.

Chaney watched Back Bay rival Newport Harbor pull off a 6-5 come-from-behind victory, and later the previously unhappy Barnett jump into the pool to celebrate.

Barnett needed to cool off in the first meeting between the Sailors and Sea Kings in a girls’ water polo section title game. It appeared the longtime coach would suffer another championship loss to CdM in water polo, as Barnett was 1-4 as the boys’ coach against the Sea Kings.

But the No. 1-seeded Sailors (28-3) battled their way back to beat the No. 2-seeded Sea Kings (24-7), earning them their fourth Division I section crown and getting them one closer to CdM’s championship total.

The Sea Kings have claimed four Division II titles and one Division IV, but they were so close to getting the top division’s plaque for the first time. Everything looked promising for CdM heading into the fourth, making it seem like it would win its 20th game out of its last 21.

Junior Van Hiel gave the Sea Kings a 3-2 lead on a power-play goal with 5:18 left in the third. Then 27 seconds later, Newport Harbor senior Mimi Bury, the lone Sailor with section championship game experience as she was on the 2006 championship team, was ejected from the game after picking up her third exclusion.

This created a stir of emotions with Bury gone, taking with her the offensive skills which allowed her to score 36 goals before Saturday.