Girls’ Water Polo: Laguna too strong for CdM

IRVINE — The Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team can out-race opponents on the counterattack.

Try to take that away, and the Breakers can also out-physical you.

Go ahead and try to come up with a game plan to beat them. Dozens of teams before have tried and failed.

No. 4-seeded Corona del Mar competed gamely, but top-seeded Laguna Beach moved closer to its second straight CIF Southern Section Division 1 title Wednesday night by dispatching the Sea Kings, 12-5, in a semifinal match at Woollett Aquatics Center.

The Breakers, winners of an Orange County-record 51 games in a row, will play No. 2-seeded Foothill for the title on Saturday. The season ends for Corona del Mar, which to its credit fought to the last whistle.

Laguna Beach (30-0) excelled in the physical game, scoring half of its 12 goals on the power play. The Breakers went six for 10 with the player advantage, while CdM (23-7) finished two for seven.

Sophomore center Aria Fischer led the way for the Breakers with five goals, while her Stanford-bound senior sister Makenzie scored three.

“I really feel like we can play either style,” Laguna Beach Coach Ethan Damato said. “We’re tough enough to play physical with teams. 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.”

Co-captains Eliza Britt and Maddie Musselman each scored twice for CdM, which wanted a strong start to the game. It didn’t quite happen, as Laguna opened a 4-0 lead early in the second quarter on Fischer’s power-play strike.

CdM did answer with a pair of goals from Britt. The first came on a power play drawn by junior center Bridgett Storm. The second goal, from just inside five meters, cut the Breakers’ lead to 4-2 with 2:44 remaining before halftime.

But Laguna Beach added strikes from both Fischer sisters to take a 6-2 halftime lead. When Aria Fischer scored inside again early in the second half on a pass from Mia Salvini, CdM’s deficit was five goals.

“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. Our girls stayed very composed, which was good.”

Senior Grace Morgan also scored for CdM, and junior goalie Heidi Ritner made six saves and had two steals. Storm also had two steals, two exclusions drawn and a field block for CdM, while Musselman had two exclusions drawn, an assist and a field block.

“We talked about coming out and trying to shock the world,” CdM Coach Ross Sinclair said. “Hat’s off to Laguna, hat’s off to Ethan. They played a great game. They’ve been a consistent team all year, and that’s why they’re No. 1 and they’re in the middle of their nice winning streak. But we talked about the fact that we have nothing to lose in this game … I’m going to miss the seniors. They had a great quarterfinal game [against Orange Lutheran], and they came out here and they played their hearts out. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for.”

But the Sea Kings couldn’t get back in the game. By the time Musselman scored her first goal, on a penalty shot midway through the fourth quarter, Laguna Beach had opened up an 11-3 lead.

The Breakers, who got two goals from Bella Baldridge and one each from Haley Evans and Taylor Julson, move on to face Foothill for the fifth time this season. CdM is left to reflect on a successful season that saw the Sea Kings make it back to the Division 1 semifinals, a place they couldn’t reach last year as they fell in the quarterfinals.

“We talked about starting each quarter strong and finishing each quarter strong, breaking this game down into individual possessions,” Sinclair said. “There were too many times that we let it get away from us. That’s the difference. You let that happen against a team like Laguna, it’s going to come back to bite you. But what a great environment. They’re the defending champs. If they go and win on Saturday, then hey, we lost to the champions, right?”