Breakers fall one game short of final

Mike Sciacca

A season that began somewhat in disarray in early fall officially

ended on a cloudy and cold Wednesday evening for the Laguna Beach

High girls’ water polo team.

When coach Rick Scott had three senior players quit prior to the

start of the season, he wasn’t sure just how his Breakers would

respond once the 2002-03 campaign rolled around.

But his troops rallied together and, rode, for the most part, the

play of senior Annie Preble and sophomore Addison Doud. Laguna came

up with a spectacular season, one that ended one game short of

playing for the CIF Southern Section Division II championship.

The Breakers’ bid to reach the D II title match was denied

Wednesday by Villa Park, which came on strong down the stretch to

record an 8-6 victory.

Villa Park’s triumph denied an all-Pacific Coast League final in

Saturday’s championship match at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

Instead, the Spartans will go up against top-seed Corona del Mar,

which defeated Canyon, 11-4, in the first game of Wednesday’s

semifinal double-header at Newport Harbor High.

Wednesday’s match was the third meeting of the season between

Laguna and Villa Park, with each defeating the other during the

regular season.

“I was disappointed in the way we played today,” Scott said, “only

because our top two players, Annie and Addison, didn’t play their

best games. They’ve carried us all season and have both done

tremendous jobs but unfortunately, they weren’t on today.”

Laguna never led in the match. The Breakers trailed early, 3-0,

fought back to tie the score at 3-3, only to fall behind once again,

7-4, in the third quarter.

They rallied at the outset of the fourth quarter, using Doud’s

first two goals of the match to narrow the deficit to 7-6.

Villa Park gained some breathing room when Kathryn Sullivan

answered Doud with a corner shot into the right-side of the net to

give the Spartans a two-goal lead. Preble, the county’s top scorer

and record holder for goals scored in a season, twice got off shots

in the final 1:34, but her first attempt was blocked by Spartan

goalie Kristen Davis, the second, a no-look shot, bounced off the

crossbar with 39 seconds to play.

Preble finished the match with one goal, her score knotting the

game at 3-3 late in the first half.

Senior Lina Moore, an all-league and all-CIF performer, capped her

four-year varsity career with a terrific game in net that included 18

saves.

Laguna, which finished its season 23-7, opened postseason play

with a 14-2 whipping of Savanna. In that match, Preble scored seven

goals and Doud scored twice.

They followed that win with a 7-3 second-round decision over El

Dorado with Preble leading the way with four goals and Moore finished

with 10 saves.

She finished the season with a county record 166 goals.

Laguna was seeking its first trip to a Division II final in this,

its inaugural season playing at the Division II level. The school won

its first polo championship when it captured the Division IV crown in

2000-01.

“Although we’re disappointed not to be going to the finals, I

thought it was an extremely successful year,” Scott added. “We had

three seniors quit before the start of the season and had several

inexperienced players on this team. To reach the semifinals in this

division says a lot about just how fine a season our girls had.”