On the rebound

Mike Sciacca

The meddle of the Laguna Beach High water polo team had been tested

in a recent two-week stretch of the 2004 season.

Having had to contend with a tough schedule was made even more

daunting when the team -- which truly is a “team” in every sense of

the word, coach Rick McKee has said -- was decimated by the flu bug.

“The flu kind of caught us by surprise and brought us down for a

couple of weeks,” McKee said.

But it didn’t keep the Breakers down for long.

Laguna rebounded in its most recent match to pummel Santa

Margarita, 12-4.

That win could prove instrumental as key matches in the coming

week against San Clemente, University and Newport Harbor await.

Laguna was 10-6 overall and 0-1 in Pacific Coast League play

heading into a Wednesday match against Tesoro.

“At the beginning of the season we were building good momentum,”

McKee said. “Then, in the third week of the season, the flu bug hit

and we hit a bit of a skid.

“We are coming out of it and beginning to play at the level we

should be. This team, when it is playing well, has the potential of

beating anyone. I think we have rebounded with the big win against

Santa Margarita.”

The strength of the 2004 Breakers, McKee said, is the fact that it

is a “team,” rather than a group consisting of a few dominate

players.

Leadership has come from senior players Ryan Fair, Trevor and

Jeremy Frimond, keeper Bret Burge and Cedric Channels.

Fair’s 36 goals scored this season is second among Laguna scorers,

the list topped by Mike Dick, who has scored 37 goals.

“However, the glue that has kept this team in many games has been

the outstanding play of Jeremy Frimond and Trevor Frimond,” McKee

said.

Jeremy Frimond has scored 15 goals and Trevor Frimond has scored

17.

Laguna opened Pacific Coast League play on Oct. 6 with a 7-6 loss

at Northwood, a close match marred by controversy, McKee said.

“We are looking forward to a strong finish,” he said. “We played

80 games over the summer. By playing that many games, I learned about

the character of this team. That creates a situation where there have

been few surprises.

“On our website, I put a quote there from Babe Ruth. He said, ‘The

way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the

greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t

play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.’ This is an attitude,

an attitude that these guys have adopted and lived by. They will be

successful.”