Poloists get ‘sudden’ win

Although it never really led Tuesday, Laguna Beach High’s girls’

water polo team still found a way to stun host San Clemente in girls’

water polo action.

The Breakers managed to force overtime, then took the Tritons to

sudden death, where Laguna pulled out a 13-12 victory.

Each team scored one goal in each of the two, three-minute

overtime periods, setting up sudden death, where the first team to

score would emerge victorious.

The “golden goal,” which coach Rick McKee called it, was netted by

the coach’s daughter, Jessica.

Laguna had trailed, 10-7, heading into the final quarter.

“The girls just hung in there, took advantage of certain

situations, and fought back,” McKee said. “We were down at one point

by four goals, but the girls did a great job of battling back.”

Laguna’s win came against the 10th-ranked team in CIF-Southern

Section Division I.

The Breakers are ranked seventh in the latest Division II poll.

Breanna Duplisea led Laguna in scoring with four goals.

McKee and Elizabeth Rooklidge each scored three goals, Kat Gordon

scored twice and Anna Nelson scored one goal.

Alana Thomson finished with 11 saves.

Previously, Laguna had closed out its Pacific Coast League

schedule with another nail-biter, this one, a 9-8 verdict over

visiting University.

The Breakers outscored the Trojans, 4-2, in the final quarter, to

pull out the win.

Duplisea again led Laguna with four goals.

McKee scored three times and Gordon and Nelson each scored once.

Next up for Laguna, which is 19-9, is the CIF-Southern Section

playoffs.

The Breakers will begin play on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Water polo playoff pairings will be announced Monday by the

Southern Section office in Los Alamitos.

In boys’ soccer, Laguna defeated Calvary Chapel, 2-1, but lost to

Tesoro, 3-0.

In the Calvary Chapel match, Brendan Hexberg scored Laguna’s first

goal. Shortly thereafter, Dieter Schmidtz scored a left foot shot

from close range for a 2-0 lead.

Zack Tischio played a strong game at midfield and brothers Joey

and Derek LeBon caused defensive problems for Calvary Chapel.

Laguna’s hard work went for naught in a 3-0 loss to Tesoro.

“It was pretty much a replica of all our close defeats this

season,” Laguna coach Andy Thomas said. “We pressured a lot, the

players worked very hard and created chances, but we are just

slightly more technically deficient than our opponents.

“When you play on a poor playing surface, the technical

deficiencies come into play the longer the game continues and that’s

when mistakes cost goals, and breakdowns happen.”

The Breakers concluded their regular season Wednesday at

University.