Polo

Playing flawlessly on defense in the fourth quarter of Saturday's match against host Los Alamitos, the Laguna Beach Water Polo Age Group girls' 14-and-Under team emerged with a 6-1 victory at the Armed Forces Base pool. Playing in a pool facility whose deep end is the widest surface above which it competes, Laguna overcame some early problems by making adjustments to the pool. Nearly three minutes into the game, hole set Lexy Ross drew a kick out. Following some perimeter passing, Jessica Shusko was able to walk in from the left wing and send a shot into the net. A minute later, Yoshi Andersen fed Melena Masson for Laguna's second goal.

The Laguna Beach Age Group Water Polo 14-and-Under girls' team whipped visiting Capo Valley, 9-1, in club action Saturday. Following a kick out in the first period, Jesse Holechek was unguarded and easily went in to net the game's first goal. Later in the quarter, Jessica Shusko and Riley Duncan each assaulted the goal for Laguna, but their shots clanged off the crossbar, leaving the score, 1-0. Laguna struck again early in the second quarter. Following a save by goalie Edy Manetta, Holechek scored again, this time on a penalty shot, to make it 2-0. Manetta came up with another save, but Capo was able to convert its first goal later in the quarter to cut the deficit to 2-1. Late in the quarter, Halley Zoellner scored to put Laguna up, 3-1, at the half.

For the third consecutive weekend, the Laguna Beach girls' 14-and-Under water polo team stepped it up in tournament competition. On Saturday, the 14-U squad competed in the 16-U division of the Northwood Tournament in Irvine. Laguna won three games to reach the division final, where it was to take on the Laguna Beach Breakers, a team composed of incoming freshmen and sophomores. The final wasn't played, however, as the starting time conflicted with a joint fundraising event the two Laguna teams held that night at the Laguna School of Music.

Boys' under-12 team eases past Riverside.Racing ahead from the opening whistle and never looking back, the Laguna Beach Age Group Water Polo 12-and-under boys' team picked up a 9-6 victory over Riverside. Curt Knott set the tone for Laguna with a quick score, which was followed by a Nicky Brunner-to-Nolan McConnell combination. McConnell went on to post four more goals before the end of the match. Teammate Nile Koegal scored twice -- one coming on a long bomb -- and Riley Browne once.

The Laguna Beach Age Group Water Polo girls' 14-and-Under team traveled to Colony High in Ontario Saturday to play its final two games in the California Cup series, and the locals returned home with two more victories. Laguna finished the tournament with an 8-3 record, good for second-place. Laguna 9, Los Alamitos 4 Laguna overcame double-teaming defensive tactics by Los Alamitos on hole sets Candyce Schroeder and Jessica Shusko to win a match that started at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The Laguna Beach Age Group Water Polo boys' 14-and-Under team won all six of its matches last weekend to win the gold medal at the annual San Diego Cup tournament Laguna breezed to the title in a 32-team tournament that included squads from all over California. Laguna set the tone early, as every player scored in a tournament-opening, 18-5 win over Sultan. Laguna's Spencer Dodson received the tournament's MVP honor and teammates Nolan McConnell and Erik Henrikson were named to the all-tournament team.

The Laguna Beach Age Group Water Polo girls' 14-and-Under team, playing together as a full squad for the first time in several weeks, won three matches last weekend to take the top prize at the Newport Water Polo Foundation Tournament. The Saturday event was held at the Newport Harbor High pool. Laguna 12, Newport "B" 0 Laguna's first contest was no contest, a the locals rolled from the start. Yoshi Andersen led the offense early with two quick goals and an assist.

Breakers get defensive, take down Los Alamitos and Villa Park.There was one point during Tuesday's girls' water polo nonleague match between Laguna Beach and Los Alamitos that won the game for the host Breakers. And it all had to do with defense. Holding a one-goal advantage over the Division I Griffins a few minutes into the third quarter, Laguna turned up the defensive pressure, created turnovers and steals, and parlayed them into four consecutive goals to send the Breakers on their way to a 10-7 victory.

When Laguna Beach and Newport Harbor get together in the pool for girls' water polo competition, the action almost never seems to lack drama. Saturday at the Laguna pool, it was turned up a notch. The sixth-ranked Breakers and fourth-ranked Sailors went up against each other for a second time this season in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal showdown where a berth in the semifinals awaited the winner. After a deadlock through regulation, it was Newport that survived to move on, following an 11-10 overtime victory.

The Laguna Beach girls' water polo team made it a 1-2-3 season sweep of Dos Pueblos of Goleta Wednesday. The third meeting between the two teams in six weeks was the most important, a first-round game in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs. The outcome turned out to be another victory for the Breakers who kept their title hopes alive with a 9-8 win at home. With the win, Orange Coast League champion Laguna advances to face Sunset League champ Newport Harbor in a division quarterfinal Saturday at 2 p.m. The No. 6-seeded Breakers play host to the No. 4-seeded Sailors, who defeated Canyon of Anaheim, 18-3, on Wednesday.

A fast start left little doubt Wednesday that the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team was on its way to another big Orange Coast League victory. The Breakers gave up a first-quarter goal to host Estancia but then shut out the Eagles the remainder of the way, and rolled to a 23-1 victory. Makenzie Fischer and Ally Jochim both scored four goals and Lexi Del Toro and Sydney Saxe each scored three goals, to pace the offensive output. Laguna, ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division 1, improved to 3-0 in league and clinched another OCL championship.

A trip north resulted in gold for the Laguna Beach Water Polo 14-and-under girls' team last weekend. Laguna won the gold medal at the Santa Barbara Water Polo Invitational Sunday by defeating host and heavily-favored Santa Barbara, 5-4, in the championship game. Despite losing six of seven starters from last season's squad, the youthful Laguna girls kept pace with Santa Barbara during the early part of the game. The locals held a one-point halftime advantage and kept a narrow lead until Santa Barbara tied the score with a goal out of center with 40 seconds left in the game.

An early call Wednesday turned out to reap several rewards for the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo team. On a day that began at 5:45 a.m. with a not-so-normal practice session, the Breakers still had plenty of energy nine hours later, when they traveled to face Costa Mesa. Despite a somewhat slow start to the Orange Coast League opener for both teams, the Breakers shifted gears and went on several scoring runs that led to an eventual, 22-7 victory. Laguna has not lost an OCL game since the league formed for athletic competition for the 2006-07 school year.

Aiming for the top — that's the spot the Laguna Beach High girls' water polo program always sets its sights on. It's where the focus is again in the 2012-13 season, one in which Coach Ethan Damato welcomes back six players including five starters, from a group that last year finished the season ranked No. 3 and was one play away from playing in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 title game. Twice in the past two years have the Breakers fallen in overtime games in the semifinal round including last year to eventual champion Newport Harbor.

Makenzie Fischer, a sophomore at Laguna Beach High, was named Monday to the USA Water Polo Women's Youth National Team. Fischer was one of 13 players named to the 18-and-under team which is coached by Kyle Kopp and assistant coaches Alison Gregorka and Paul Felton. The USA Youth National Team will compete at the FINA Youth World Championships Dec. 1-9 at Perth, Australia. * Volleyball clinics available Junior Breakers Volleyball Clinics, a series of youth volleyball classes presented by Laguna Beach High boys' volleyball Coach Scott Panaro, are underway at the North Gym on the Laguna Beach campus.