Szabo: Breakers a team for the ages
My favorite moment from the CIF Southern Section Division 1 girls’ water polo title match Saturday night may have been random, but it said everything about the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team.
It was when Laguna junior Alex Peros scored on a strong shot from six meters early in the second quarter. It’s not the shot that I remember so much now, it’s the grins on the faces on all of Peros’ teammates as they swam back toward the middle of the pool.
It also reminded me of the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions title game, when senior co-captain and Olympic gold medalist Aria Fischer got so fired up after she fed her fellow senior co-captain Bella Baldridge on the counterattack.
The legendary late UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden is quoted as saying, “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.” I feel that applies to the Breakers this season. Coach Ethan Damato would agree.
“I think this was probably the best passing team I’ve ever coached, probably the most selfless team I’ve ever coached,” Damato said. “I can say that with a lot of confidence ... and I thought you could see that. As a spectator who didn’t know anything about our team, you could see that when we played. You could see that in the pool, out of the pool. People were excited that the team scored, not who scored, and that was a pretty special thing to watch.”
Every game ended with a win, including the last one, when Laguna Beach defeated San Marcos, 6-2, Saturday at Irvine’s Woollett Aquatics Center for its third Division 1 title in four years. It was the Breakers’ fifth CIF title in program history, as they also won the Division 4 title in 2001 and the Division 2 title in 2009.
The Breakers (31-0) completed their second undefeated season in three years and are a total of 119-4 over the last four years, including a 63-game winning streak that ended last season. In that span, they also have won 11 of the 12 major in-season tournaments, including the Holiday Cup, Santa Barbara TOC and Irvine Southern California Championships.
They are the fifth Division 1 team to finish a season undefeated, joining Foothill in 2003, Dos Pueblos in 2010 and ’11 and the 2015 Breakers squad. It’s hard to imagine a team being more dominant than this year’s Laguna Beach squad, though. Every win was by at least four goals.
Damato said it was tough to answer if this was the best team he’s ever coached. The 2015 undefeated team was led by another future Olympian in her senior year. It’s Aria’s older sister, Makenzie. She now plays at Stanford, where she will be joined by Aria and Baldridge. Claire Sonne, the Breakers’ third senior co-captain, is headed to Cal.
“It’s tough,” Damato said. “I mean, our 2015 team was pretty close. I think those two teams would play a hell of a game against each other. I loved both of those years, so it’s hard for me to pick one, but this team this year is really special in my heart. One of the most enjoyable seasons I’ve ever had, for sure.
“It’s really hard to put it into perspective at this point. I feel like it’s still fresh for me, and I think it’s going to hit later. But definitely, the first word that comes to mind is just ‘special.’ Whether it was better or worse than the team two years ago, those were two of my favorite years ever coaching, no doubt. This year in particular, I had a lot of fun coaching them. We had a really enjoyable group of girls, a group of girls that really cared about each other. They were extremely hungry and extremely dedicated.”
They were also pushed by San Marcos in the final. It was the Breakers’ closest game all season, and the lead sat at just three goals midway through the fourth quarter. But that’s when Baldridge got a steal out of a timeout and scored on a counterattack. The celebration was soon to begin.
Baldridge, a four-year varsity player, finished her Laguna career with a team-record 321 assists. Fischer (103 goals), Baldridge (82) and Sonne (61) were the team’s leading scorers this season. But the deep Breakers also got sizable contributions from their nine-member junior class as well, including three-year varsity players Sophia Lucas and Evan Tingler, stud goalie Thea Walsh and Peros, Alana Evans and Isabel Riches. Walsh made 298 saves this season, a Breakers single-season record.
“It’s so cool to see each different group that won CIF, how different they were and who contributed,” Baldridge said. “I mean, Aria and I won our freshman and sophomore years, and it’s a completely new group of girls, except for maybe two or three. It’s been great, and the third one’s a charm.”
Damato strives to keep his alma mater close, like a family. It’s clear that was the case this season.
The smiles after that goal by Peros said it all.
“I think that was so indicative of this year’s team,” Damato said. “They were excited just to be successful together. Every year you’ve got teams that are worried about who’s getting stats, who’s scoring goals, and that was not an issue this year at all.”
Twitter: @mjszabo
