Sea Queens Top Santa Margarita to Reach Holiday Cup Semifinals

Corona Del Mar High's girls water polo team used a stifling defense against Santa Margarita and rolled its way into the semifinals of the Holiday Cup tournament with a 12-3 victory over the Eagles on Thursday afternoon at Corona Del Mar High.

Ally McCormick and Cassidy Papa each had four goals to lead the Sea Queens' offense. Corona Del Mar's defense and goal keeping set up several counter goals, two of which came in the second quarter when the Sea Queens turned a 3-1 lead into a commanding 7-2 halftime score.

Junior Diana Murphy scored on an inside shot from about three meters early in the second quarter to give the Sea Queens a 4-1 lead. A minute later a steal by senior Maddie Schwartz put the ball into the hands of goal keeper Alex Musselman and she sent a long pass in front of a charging McCormick who scored to make it 5-1.

"They did a good job of putting a lot of pressure on us on every possession," Santa Margarita coach Kevin Ricks said.

Corona Del Mar scored again a few minutes later on another offensive breakaway following a defensive stop. Musselman led Pippa Saunders with a long pass as she and McCormick were swimming ahead of the defense. Saunders pulled up short of the goal and as the defense closed on her she sent a pass over to McCormick for a point-blank shot on goal and a 6-2 Corona Del Mar lead

Shortly before the end of the second quarter, McCormick would return the favor with a cross-tank pass to Saunders on the right side for an angle shot that Saunders put into the short side of the goal for a 7-2 lead. Santa Margarita had scored first, taking a 1-0 lead at the 4:18 mark of the first quarter on a goal by freshman Haley Wan.

Mackenzie Beck added the Eagles' second goal midway through the second quarter on a sharp angle shot from the right side. Wan would score early in the third quarter when she grabbed a rebound from a crossing shot by Morgan Matinez that hit the left post. For the Sea Queens, Saunders and Devon Greenlee had two goals each.

Corona Del Mar improved its record to 3-3 on the season after opening the tournament with a 13-9 victory over Rosary in the first round. McCormick had four goals and Victoria Pierotti added three to lead the Sea Queens over Rosary.

The Sea Queens, who had not played since their loss to Newport Harbor on Dec. 17, wanted to get off to a good start in this event after stumbling to a 1-3 start in a tough opening season schedule.

"We just wanted to set the tempo in this tournament and go out really hard in the beginning and hopefully keep the intensity all the way," Saunders said.

Corona Del Mar will play in the semifinals against Laguna Beach on Friday at 11:45 a.m. at Newport Harbor High. Laguna Beach reached the semifinals with a 5-4 victory over Santa Barbara in the other quarterfinal at Corona Del Mar High.

Santa Margarita opened the tournament with an 8-6 victory over a strong Edison team. Beck, Wan, Emily Loughlin and Carina Carballo each scored two goals for the Eagles (4-3), who will have a shot to get into the fifth-place game when they face Santa Barbara at 9:35 a.m. on Friday at Newport Harbor High