Laguna no match for OCL foes
And the beat goes on.
The Laguna Beach girls’ water polo team continued its dominance of the Orange Coast League on Wednesday by routing Godinez, 17-1, at the Laguna pool.
The Breakers took a 9-0 first-quarter lead and turned it into a 13-0 halftime advantage. Godinez finally cracked the scoreboard in the third quarter.
Ten Breakers scored, led by Melena Masson’s four goals and three more by Sydney Saxe. Yoshi Andersen, Lexie del Toro and Jessie Holechek each scored twice. Single goals were scored by Jessica Shusko, Mackenzie Baldridge, Lida DeGroote, Riley Duncan and Marley Donnenfeld. Saxe and Anderson both had two assists, Shusko and Duncan both had four steals and Saxe and Andersen had three steals apiece.
Etianne Manetta had two saves and Jenna Knott three saves.
Laguna is 2-0 in league.
The win came four days after the Breakers, ranked sixth in CIF Division 1, dropped a 10-9 nonleague decision at seventh-ranked Foothill. Laguna had led, 4-2, at the half.
“We played hard and again had a chance to win as we scored to go up one with 50 seconds left,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “Foothill played well all game and made some big plays in the final minute. We got a great look at the cage with under 20 seconds left…sometimes those just don’t go in. Hopefully, we get a chance to see them next weekend at the Socal Championships.”
Today, the Breakers take on another top-10 opponent when they host Palos Verdes in a 3:15 p.m. nonleague game. The Sea Kings are ranked ninth in Division 1.
“The girls have finals this week, so they have been putting in double duty,” Damato said. “We have been working hard on our counter attack and getting into our offense earlier this week. PV should be good opportunity to see how it’s working”
Palos Verdes is one of several ranked opponents Laguna has challenged in the past two weeks, a stretch that began with a 10-8 loss at Dos Pueblos on Jan. 13. Following today’s game, the Breakers start the loaded Socal Championships tournament Thursday. The three-day event — which has drawn nine of the 10 top-ranked teams in Division 1, as well as several top-rated teams in divisions 2, 3 and 4 — runs through Feb. 5 and will be played at the Corona del Mar and Santa Margarita pools and the William Woollett Aquatic Center in Irvine.
Laguna is second in its pool, behind Los Alamitos. The bracket also includes Santa Margarita and Carlsbad.
The Breakers begin the tournament against Canyon on Thursday at the Santa Margarita High pool.
“It’s another tough tournament with big implications as we get closer to the playoffs,” Damato said. “Right now we are sitting at No. 7. If we want to move up from there, we will need to beat some teams ahead of us.
“If we are able to finish first or second in our bracket, we will have an opportunity to move up in the rankings. That will be our goal.”