Sea Kings still rule bay

NEWPORT BEACH — Three kids from the stands at Newport Harbor High made their way down to the lacrosse field with a complaint. One tried to correct the score of the Battle of the Bay at halftime.

“It should be 5-1, not 5-0,” he told the two referees as the Sailors trailed Corona del Mar.

The main referee shook his head before informing the kid the ball was outside of the net. It seemed like everyone on the Sailors’ side tried to argue each call that went against them Friday night.

One thing they couldn’t dispute was the Sea Kings’ dominance. Six players scored goals as CdM frustrated Newport Harbor throughout an 8-1 victory.

Newport Harbor’s penalty total almost matched its shots on goal. The Sailors offense was non-existent thanks to the Sea Kings’ defense.

Hurting Newport Harbor (5-3) were a dozen penalties. They were constantly playing a man down.

Against the fifth-ranked team in the state by LaxPower.com, that’s a big no-no. The Sea Kings jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to two goals by Ryan Mix and one by his younger brother, Casey.

Casey quickly got his feet wet in the intense Back Bay rivalry.

“Every year, a lot of emotions,” Ryan Mix said. “I love it.”

Always being on the winning side is why the Notre Dame-bound senior looks forward to playing the Sailors.

Ryan Mix went on to record a hat trick and the Sea Kings easily improved to 5-0. The other four CdM players who found the back of the net were Randall Nelson, Michael Keasey, Michael Ortlieb and Daniel Noto.

The balance on offense is something CdM first-year head coach G.W. Mix is counting on.

“We certainly lost a lot of production,” said Mix, who takes over a program that reached the U.S. Lacrosse Southern Section Orange County playoff championship game last season under then-coach Mark Todd. “We’re trying to find [the offense] in some really young kids, along with some kids that returned from last year’s team.”

Five starters return, Ryan Mix and Nelson at attacker, and JD Abbott and Donald Dalton on defense.

Abbott, Dalton, along with Alex Mainthow, stopped the Sailors from taking high-percentage shots on goalie Hugh Russell.

At halftime, Newport Harbor managed just five shots on goal, while the Sea Kings fired 16.

The Sailors’ lone goal came 28 seconds into the second half.

Riley Robinson ended Russell’s shutout bid after putting away a power-play goal.

Twenty seconds later, Newport Harbor lost one of its captains. Gavin Arblaster injured his shoulder and left the game.

The Sailors’ new coach, Andreas Gaynor, almost exited as well.

Gaynor ripped into one of the refs and he had enough of the coach’s words.

“You want another one?” the ref asked Gaynor, referring to another penalty.

The opposing coach just looked on.

“It was just one of those games where there really wasn’t a whole lot of flow to it,” G.W. Mix said. “[The penalties] affected our rhythm certainly offensively. It just wasn’t a pretty game to participate in.”