Breaking toward CIF

Mike Sciacca

A quirk in the schedule won’t deter the Laguna Beach High girls’

water polo team from achieving goals they have set.

Although they will jump back-and-forth between league play to

nonleague play during the final three weeks of the regular season,

the Breakers still have an eye on a possible Pacific Coast League

championship.

The team’s goal of qualifying for the upcoming CIF Southern

Section Division II playoffs is always on the agenda.

“This team is right on course, really,” said coach Rick McKee.

“They’re playing well against tough competition and are having a nice

season.

Laguna reached the 10-victory plateau last Friday by defeating

nonleague foe Tustin, and the Breakers are continuing that trend this

week by taking a break from the rigors of league competition.

But it’s not an easy sidestep to the league schedule.

Laguna played a nonleague match Thursday at Villa Park, and will

face Edison on Monday in another nonleague game.

Villa Park, currently ranked fourth behind Laguna in the Division

II poll, is the team that eliminated Laguna last year in the playoff

semifinals.

Following the Edison match, the Breakers resume PCL play Wednesday

at Tesoro, and face their final league test Feb. 4 by hosting No.

7-ranked University.

But between the Tesoro and University matches, the Breakers will

have faced Santa Monica and Peninsula (No. 8 in Division II), in

nonleague play.

The prestigious So Cal Championships looms Feb. 5-7 and the

regular season winds up with a Feb. 12 match at San Clemente, the

seventh-ranked team in Division I.

McKee said that although his squad is at the pace he expected, a

Dec. 18 match against highly-ranked Canyon revealed exactly where his

Breakers needed to be.

The visiting Commanches took home an 8-6 victory, despite the fact

that Laguna assaulted the Canyon goal with 40 shots attempts.

“Back in the Canyon game, we were four or five steps away from

where we wanted to be,” he said. “We’ve taken the necessary steps

since that game, though, to gradually get to where we are.

“I’d like to see the girls be thinking one step ahead in a game,

though. That’s what a strong varsity team does.”

Laguna has established its No. 3 ranking in Division I without one

senior starter.

Several juniors and a couple of freshmen who have figured

prominently in the Breakers’ success.

There are no sophomores on the roster, either.

But despite being on course, an area of contention this season,

McKee said, is that the Breakers had drawn 105 ejections as of Jan.

16, yet have converted only one-third of them.

“The girls have done an excellent job of getting into position,”

he said. “They just need to take advantage and convert in those

situations.”

Utility player Addison Doud has stepped to the forefront as a

leader in the pool, taking on the role in a “mutual agreement,” McKee

said.

“She’s really matured into the role and done a great job this

season,” McKee said. “She’s our leading scorer.”

Doud had scored 56 goals through Jan. 20 and is averaging nearly

five goals per game.

“She probably has one of the strongest shooting arms on a player

that I’ve seen,” McKee said. “She’s got great velocity on her shot.

“One area I see Addison working on to improve her game is her

swimming speed and when she does that, she can become, in my opinion,

one of the most dominant water polo players in Southern California.”