CdM slips behind

CORONA DEL MAR — Early in the boys’ soccer game, the parents were already on edge.

A referee got in the way of an advancing Corona del Mar High player. It happened twice in the opening minutes of Wednesday’s Pacific Coast League showdown between CdM and University, and one parent had enough.

“Get out of the way!,” the parent yelled to the referee, prompting the man in yellow to come over to the Sea Kings sideline.

“The next time one of these parents yells, all of them are gone,” the referee warned CdM Coach Pat Callaghan, who just clapped his hands.

“They’re just fired up,” Callaghan said.

By the end of the game, though, it was University that had earned the right to be fired up. The Trojans upended the Sea Kings, 2-1, at CdM, and surged into first place in league with a game to go.

Uni (8-6-2, 5-2 in league) can clinch an outright league title with a win over Irvine on Tuesday. CdM (5-7-4, 3-2-2) has to hope Uni loses and the Sea Kings can get past Beckman, which would create co-league champions.

It’s a tough pill to swallow for the Sea Kings, who were on top of the league three games ago but haven’t won since.

“I think [the Trojans] were more physical, which caught us by surprise,” said CdM junior Reed Williams. “We have a smaller team, and they knew how to get fouls. The ref was calling everything, but they just outplayed us, really. I don’t think we had a very good game.”

Williams had a great game when the teams played on Jan. 16, scoring all three goals in a 3-0 victory. This time, he instead had three defenders.

“Every time I touched the ball, I had like three or four guys on me,” Williams said. “It was kind of tough.”

University Coach Chip Fuller, whose team won its second league title in three years, said that was all part of the strategy.

“We played four in the back to make sure we could manage [Williams],” Fuller said. “He is a handful, and you’ve got to be on him. We worked really hard to deny him the ball, and when he got it, to make sure he didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver with the ball. It was a very simple defensive game plan.”

The Trojans scored first in the 23rd minute, on a cross to senior Sajad Mahallati in the box. Mahallati trapped the ball then let off a low shot that found the right corner. Five minutes later, Uni went up 2-0 when Stanford-bound senior Dersu Abolfathi scored off a straightaway free kick just outside the box.

“We had good crosses, we made quality runs, just sometimes the ball bounces your way and sometimes it doesn’t,” Callaghan said. “Once they got that second goal, it’s tough. You go down 2-0 and you start to press a little bit, I think. Ultimately, we ran out of time. They started putting a lot of guys in the box and we couldn’t break through.”

CdM scored its only goal in the 51st minute. Williams was fouled in the box, and senior Miles Kellerman converted the penalty kick.

The Sea Kings had eight corner kicks to one by Uni. Freshman Grady Howe nearly scored off one of the corner kicks early in the game but University kept dodging the bullets.

Corona del Mar now tries to regroup against winless Beckman before the CIF playoffs begin.

“We’ve slipped, definitely,” Williams said. “It’s disappointing, but we can get into the playoffs and make a run.”