Girls’ Water Polo: Laguna overpowers CdM in CIF semifinal
When the season began in late November, the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team entered the season with lofty expectations, both from within and outside, plus a top ranking to boot. Coach Ethan Damato said then that he was “excited to start working toward our goals as a team.”
The bar was set high, but the Breakers already have attained many of those goals. They have won at every turn and on numerous times in overwhelming fashion, all the while with teams gunning for them. Now they are a single victory away from achieving what they set out to do — win another CIF Southern Section championship.
At 7 p.m. Saturday, No. 1-seed Laguna will vie for a repeat Division 1 championship when it plays in the division’s title game at the William Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine. That was the site Wednesday of the Breakers’ most recent conquest, a 12-5 semifinal victory over longtime rival and No. 4-seed Corona del Mar.
Now, No. 1 will go after No. 2 on two counts.
By defeating the Sea Kings for the second time this season, Laguna was able to push its winning streak to an Orange County record 51 games. That streak dates to January of last year, an 8-7 nonleague loss at Foothill, Laguna’s finals opponent on Saturday.
The Knights, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 3-seed Newport Harbor, 5-3, in the first game of a Division 1 semifinal Wednesday at Woollett. It was the final game of a storied 49-year coaching career for Sailors Coach Bill Barnett.
A win over Foothill Saturday would give Laguna a second straight Division 1 championship.
“We’re excited for Saturday,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said moments after the Breakers polished off the Sea Kings. “Right now, though, we just want to enjoy this (CdM win) a little while.”
Laguna led from start to finish Wednesday in a physical match. Corona del Mar needed a fast start to stay with Laguna, but it was the Breakers who jetted out quickly, taking a 4-0 lead. The Breakers scored six of their 12 goals holding the player advantage, and were six of 10 overall in that category. Two of the Sea Kings’ goals came with the player advantage, but they only were two of seven in those situations.
Corona del Mar did manage to draw within 4-2 with 2:44 left in the first half after Eliza Britt scored twice, but the Breakers answered by scoring the final two goals of the half. Sophomore center Aria Fischer first scored on a skip shot from close range, then she came up with a field block to give the Breakers possession. A long feed down pool to Makenzie Fischer resulted in the senior ripping in a shot from the outside with 1:08 left before the break for a 6-2 advantage.
The Sea Kings trailed, 7-3, early in the second half but Laguna scored four unanswered goals capped by Haley Evan’s skip shot. The run put the game away as the Breakers upped their lead to 11-3 with 5:32 to play.
“I thought we did a nice job of setting the tone early in the game, and kind of not giving them much life early on,” Damato said. “When they made their runs, we answered with runs. I thought that was really important.”
Aria Fischer scored three of her game-high five goals in the opening half. Makenzie Fischer scored three times and had three steals. Bella Baldridge scored twice to go with four assists, Taylor Julson scored once, Mia Salvini had two steals in the first quarter and assisted on four goals, and Natalie Selin had four steals. Holly Parker finished with five saves.
In the first meeting the season between the teams, Laguna took a 9-3 win last month from the Sea Kings in the semifinal round of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions.
Corona del Mar, champion of the Pacific Coast League, ends its season 23-7.
“I’m happy with the win and our effort,” Damato said. “It was physical out there and I thought the girls battled hard the entire way. I thought CdM played well and was ready to play physical.
“Aria (Fischer) really had a nice game and she set the tone early. Aria’s arguably the best center, if not one of the best centers. If people want to play really physical, she’s going to draw exclusions. She’s a tough kid.”
Laguna advanced to the semifinals by disposing of eighth-ranked Los Alamitos (21-9, Sunset League No. 2), 18-5, last Saturday. Makenzie Fischer’s six goals led the way. Aria Fischer scored four times and Selin and Brighid Burnes both scored twice. Salvini had a team-best four assists, and Selin and Baldridge (one goal) each had three assists. Parker (five saves) and Thea Walsh (four saves) combined in goal for the Breakers.
The Breakers have outscored their first three playoff opponents, 54-14. They started postseason play Feb. 18 and routed Villa Park, 24-4.
“We’re playing really well,” Damato said. “On Saturday, we will just try to come back here and do our thing. We’ve been doing that all year.”
Laguna and Foothill are no strangers to one another, having met on four previous occasions this season. The Breakers defeated the Knights in the title games of the Newport Harbor Holiday Cup (13-3) Jan. 3, Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions (9-5) Jan. 17, and at the Irvine Southern California Championships (11-4) at Woollett three weeks ago. Five days after their title game win at the Holiday Cup, the Breakers scored a 6-5 nonleague victory at Foothill.
“We’ll be ready for Saturday,” Parker said. “We’ve seen Foothill four times already, and we just need to go out there and be mentally and physically tough. I think one of our team strengths is our mental toughness but the biggest thing is, is that we trust and rely on each other.”
The Foothill-Laguna Division 1 championship game is the last of seven divisional finals to be played Saturday at Woollett. The schedule also includes: Division 7 (Foothill Technology vs. Hillcrest, 10 a.m.); Division 6 (Ocean View vs. Pasadena Poly, 11:30 a.m.); Division 5 (Los Altos vs. Palm Desert, 1 p.m.); Division 3 (Arroyo Grande vs. ML King, 2:30 p.m.); Division 2 (El Toro vs. San Clemente, 4 p.m.); Division 4 (Riverside Poly vs. Royal, 5:30 p.m.).
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Twitter: @MikeSciacca