Soccer

Getting the chance to participate in the 2012 CIF Southern Section boys' soccer playoffs, Laguna Beach took full advantage of the opportunity by putting its best foot forward Tuesday at El Segundo. The Breakers, an at-large entry in the Division 4 playoffs, won the wild-card game, 2-1. Senior forward Reece Barton and freshman midfielder Harrison Gregory scored goals for the Breakers, who improved to 9-6-3 and advanced to face Crescenta Valley in a first-round game Thursday.

At last, the Laguna Beach High girls' soccer program can call itself No. 1. The Breakers went out Wednesday and did something no previous Laguna squad had done in 31 seasons: win a league championship. They reached new heights after handing visiting Saddleback a 3-1 defeat in the Orange Coast League finale for both teams. The Breakers took a giant step toward that goal only after winning a crucial game Monday against Godinez. Before Wednesday's ground-breaking triumph, Laguna Coach Bill Rolfing said he had learned that Godinez had knocked off Calvary Chapel earlier in the day, a result that gave the Breakers the league title even before the first kick against Saddleback.

Bill Rolfing called the win "significant. " Rolfing's Laguna Beach girls' soccer team won its Orange Coast League opener Tuesday against visiting Estancia, beating a team he considers one of the strongest in the league, 2-1, at Guyer Field. The victory came against a team that last year won the league championship. In the 20th minute of the first half, freshman midfielder Janie Crawford scored from 10 yards out from the left side of the field. The score came off a shared assist by freshman defender Amy Hewlett and senior midfielder Marina Paul.

The Laguna Beach boys' soccer team hasn't played in a week and on Friday, the Breakers return to action to face Aliso Niguel on the Wolverine's home field. The nonleague match starts at 5 p.m. and is preceded at 3:15 p.m. by the junior varsity and frosh/soph games between the schools. Laguna last played Dec. 9 when the Breakers battled Tesoro to a 1-1 tie. Freshman Harrison Gregory scored the Breakers' goal. "This game was always going to be a really good test for the team," Laguna Coach Daniel Richards said.

The Laguna Beach boys' soccer team jumped to a big lead on visiting Sage Hill in a nonleague game and went on to earn its first victory of the 2011-12 season by blanking the Lightning, 5-0, at Guyer Field on Wednesday. The Breakers bolted to a 4-0 halftime advantage to run their record to 1-0-1. Sophomore midfielder/forward Chris Tellez led the scoring with three goals. Senior midfielder/forward Joseph Rousseau and senior defender Brogan O'Bryan both scored once. "I was happy with today's result and it was a decent performance for our opening home game of the season," Laguna Coach Daniel Richards said.

The 2010-11 season game came to an end Wednesday for the Laguna Beach girls' soccer team, which will head into the offseason on a winning note thanks to a 1-0 Orange Coast League victory at Saddleback. On Monday, Marina Paul scored twice as the Breakers played Costa Mesa to a 2-2 tie in the final home game for the Laguna seniors. The Laguna boys' team also played earlier in the week and battled visiting Costa Mesa to a scoreless tie Tuesday at Guyer Field in the final home game of the season for the Breakers.

The Laguna Beach boys' soccer team dropped its third straight Orange Coast League game Wednesday when the Breakers fell to visiting Saddleback, 3-0, at Guyer Field. "The game was very scrappy, with both teams looking a nervous at times," Laguna Coach Dan Richards said. "We were really the creators of our own downfall, giving a way some very soft goals that we should have dealt with better. "At the start of the second half, we wanted to try and keep that pressure on the Saddleback back line and again should have done better with the opportunities we made.

For the first time this season, the Laguna Beach boys' soccer team has gone down in defeat. It happened Wednesday night at Guyer Field when the Breakers fell behind by three goals at the half to Godinez and went on to suffer a 4-1 loss to the visiting Grizzlies. The setback put Laguna at 4-1-2 overall and 2-1 in Orange Coast League play. The Breakers had been impressive in their first two league games, beating Estancia (1-0) on the road Jan. 12 and then defeated Calvary Chapel (3-2)

The Laguna Beach boys' soccer team couldn't have asked for a better beginning in the 2011 Orange Coast League season. The Breakers went on the road to face Estancia and came up with a big defensive effort and just enough scoring to come away with a 1-0 victory. Reece Barton scored the only goal of the game, as shot found the bottom corner of the net in the first half. The score was set up by Sam Stinnett. "Opening up with an away game at Estancia was always going to be tough and to come away with the victory shows just how far this team has come," Laguna Coach Dan Richards said.

The Laguna Beach girls' soccer team, whose home nonleague game Monday against San Juan Hills was cancelled due to a rain out, returned to action Wednesday and ran visiting Orange right out of Guyer Field. The Breakers scored an emphatic 8-0 nonleague victory. It was the second lopsided win in a row for Laguna, which shut out Palm Desert, 7-0, Dec. 29. "We played with a new confidence," Laguna Coach Bill Rolfing said. "The 8-0 win was a result of fine finishing up top, but more importantly, a sense of structure throughout the midfield.