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Corona del Mar girls water polo coach Marc Hunt preached for his players to stay patient on offense and engaged in the flow of the match Wednesday.
An elimination game in the CIF-SS Open Division against JSerra — Corona del Mar’s biggest in-season rival this winter — required full concentration.
Keira Bethell showed the Sea Kings the way early, and they navigated choppy waters late to stay alive in the section’s premier division.
The sophomore utility scored a buzzer-beating goal at the end of the first period from just inside mid-pool to help Corona del Mar edge host JSerra 12-11 in the teams’ Group B finale.
In a match full of several key sequences, Bethell’s alert shot on the power play after a late exclusion drawn by Camryn Spruill emerged as one of the key plays.
“It shows we’re not checking out, we’re really staying with it until that last moment,” Hunt said of the goal. “That’s what we’ve been talking about all week. These are teams that are good. You have to take advantage of mistakes. You can’t just check out.”
“(It was) another great momentum swing,” the third-year coach added. “Awareness situations gave us an edge, (along) with our growth. I wasn’t seeing that three or four weeks ago.”
Bethell’s shot narrowly beat the buzzer and found an open net after Spruill, another sophomore, drew an exclusion on JSerra’s crashing goalie.
Corona del Mar took a 4-2 lead into the second period and opened a 5-2 cushion early in the frame on a strike from center by Bethell.
The Sea Kings (18-10) took a five-goal lead in the second period to put JSerra (16-12) in chase mode.
Bethel finished with three goals to lead a balanced attack. Josie Alaluf, Grace Henderson and reserve Sareen Sardarian each scored twice while left-hander Morgan Dollander, Emma Armen and Spruill each added one.
Goalie Claire Souverville made 10 saves.
In beating JSerra for the second time in four meetings, Corona del Mar finished third in Group B and advanced to the crossover round at San Marcos on Saturday for a berth in the semifinals.
The Sea Kings also built off their momentum from a 12-10 loss to defending champion Oaks Christian on Feb. 7.
“Our program has been a growth program since I got here,” Hunt said. “We’re just trying to rebuild it.”
In the fourth period, Alaluf scored on a counterattack off a defensive stand by Bethell at center to give Corona del Mar a 12-8 lead with 4:20 left. JSerra responded with three consecutive goals, including a penalty strike by Kamryn McCord with 35 seconds remaining to make it 12-11.
“We fought like that all year,” said first-year JSerra coach Ethan Damato, whose team rallied from a five-goal deficit to beat Corona del Mar 11-8 in late January.
“We have a ton of heart, ton of fight. This has been an amazing group of young women who are super resilient and battle.”
JSerra finished 1 for 3 on penalty shots and went 3 for 7 with the extra attacker.
Madeline Weston, sophomore Aubrey Cardoza and freshmen Danielle Ku and Skylar Shin each scored twice to pace the Lions’ attack.
Goalie Sayre Duran made seven saves, including one against a penalty. Corona del Mar went 2 for 3 with the extra attacker.
In other Open Division matches Wednesday:
Newport Harbor 8, Oaks Christian 7: The second-seeded Sailors (26-3) won Group B with a 3-0 record and advanced to the semifinals Feb. 18 at Woollett Aquatics Center.
Mater Dei 15, Orange Lutheran 13: The top-seeded Monarchs (27-2) rallied in the fourth period with six goals to win Group A with a 3-0 record and advance to the semifinals Feb. 18 at Woollett Aquatics Center.
Allison Cohen scored four goals to lead Orange Lutheran (19-9), which led 10-9 going into the fourth. The Lancers plays at Oaks Christian on Saturday in the crossover round and berth in the semifinals.