For a long time, Corona del Mar High girls’ soccer coach Bryan Middleton thought today’s match against Redlands East Valley would be for revenge.
He had been extra excited to take on REV in the CIF Southern Section Division II quarterfinal, that will be at CdM at 3 p.m.
He thought the Wildcats had knocked the Sea Kings out of the playoffs last year, but it was actually Redlands High.
“I thought last year, that we played Redlands East Valley because I kept hearing about them play against our girls’ volleyball team,” Middlelton said of the Wildcats, who beat CdM in the CIF section and state regional final matches the past two years in girls’ volleyball. “Hopefully we can get one for the volleyball team here.”
Middleton was mixed up about the opponent, but he knows plenty about REV.
“They have a very physical game,” Middleton said. “We’re more of a technical team, and play with finesse. But we have been in some scrappy games this year.”
Middleton is confident about his team because the Sea Kings are at home
“We’ve only dropped two games at home and we didn’t drop any at home last year,” Middleton said. “We play pretty good at home with our home crowd.”
CdM (14-8-4) has also gained momentum with the return of seniors Lauren Smits and Alexandra Reinach. They were out with injuries. Smits returned for the last game in the regular season and Reinach was back for a game before that.
“Lauren helps secure the defense,” Middleton said. “Alex is a scoring threat up top.”
Middleton has also been pleased with, “a total team effort,” as each player competed in the Sea Kings’ 1-0 second-round win over Crescenta Valley Wednesday.
“We’re not a team that counts on one player for 70 or 80% of our goals,” he said. “We do have Hayley [Raguse] and Ally [Brahs], but other individuals are starting to step up in the playoffs.”
