Before Tuesday’s win against Santa Margarita — a Division I program — the last time the Breakers saw any action was Dec. 20 when they scored a key victory over last year’s Div. II champion Agoura, 15-10.
They currently are in Santa Barbara for several important matches, and Co-Coach Chad Beeler said he was happy his team got to see some playing action against Santa Margarita before a grueling three days of action that had the Breakers taking on Dos Pueblos Thursday before beginning play at the Tournament of Champions hosted by Santa Barbara High.
“I’m really glad that we got the chance to play Santa Margarita because we hadn’t played in a long, long time,” Beeler said.
“We skimmed by for the win. Had we not been off on such a long break over the holidays, I’d expect us to win a bit more comfortably.
“Not playing a game in three weeks makes it tough, and I could see that the girls were a bit rusty. Now, we have to get ready for some really tough games up in Santa Barbara. But it’s great to get back to playing.”
Laguna took a 5-4 halftime lead on Santa Margarita and went up 8-6 through three quarters. The Breakers secured the win when Annika Dries scored on a five-meter shot late in the fourth quarter.
Taylor Dodson scored two goals and had three assists to pace the Laguna offense. Jessie Holechek, Natasha Schulman and Maddi Duncan each scored once with an assist.
Jessica Shusko and Lexy Ross both scored once, Dries had a pair of steals, Etianne Manetta had three saves in goal, and starting goalie Sarah Zuziak, whom Beeler said “did really well in goal,” finished with eight saves.
The Breakers departed Thursday for Santa Barbara and first had a 6 p.m. nonleague contest that day against Dos Pueblos (the score wasn’t available at press time).
