Laguna poloists cruise along

Mike Sciacca

By the way they have terrorized the opposition in the pool the past

few weeks, it looks as though the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo

team is beginning to come into its own.

And peaking at the right time.

Laguna ran its win streak to six with recent victories over

Pacific Coast League foe Tesoro (18-8), and nonleague foes Villa Park

(9-7) and Edison (15-6).

The three wins will give the Breakers, now 13-5 overall, some

steam heading into the final weeks of the regular season.

They have big nonleague matches left against Peninsula and San

Clemente, and cap their league season on Feb. 9 by hosting rival

Corona del Mar in a match that will determine the PCL champion.

Laguna also will play in the So Cal Tournament, beginning Thursday

.

Things went as expected for Laguna in its 18-8 trouncing of

Tesoro, which put the Breakers at 2-0 in league play.

Addison Doud lead the Breakers by scoring a season-high nine

goals.

The senior was followed by freshman Erin Reid, who netted four

goals.

Jessica McKee and Breanna Duplisea each scored two goals and Kat

Gordon scored once.

A day after defeating Tesoro, Laguna stepped out of league play to

take on Villa Park for a second time this season.

The teams met at the Santa Barbara Tournament earlier this month,

and Laguna came away with an 11-6 win.

In the second meeting, the Breakers also got the best of the

Spartans, 9-7.

“We expected this to be a much tighter game, and it was,” Laguna

coach Rick McKee said. “We played very strong again this time.”

Jessica McKee opened the game by scoring the first four goals for

Laguna, which took a 4-0 at the end of the first quarter.

From there, the rest of the Breakers took over.

Doud kept up the pace by matching McKee with four goals of her

own, and Reid scored once.

“This game was more along the kind of game we like to play, very

defensive and physical,” Rick McKee said. “We shut Villa Park down

with great defense by Breanna and Kat, but it was Alana Thomson in

the goal that accentuated the defensive effort.”

Thomson had a season-best 10 blocked shots.

“She stepped up huge late in the game when Villa Park made a run,”

McKee said.

The victory over the Spartans solidified the Breakers’ hold on the

No. 2 spot in the CIF-Southern Section Division II poll.

They are ranked fifth in the county.

On Monday, Edison came calling on the Breakers, and left Laguna

with a 15-6 setback.

“We are beginning to hit a stride and the play against Edison was

evidence to that,” McKee said. “Everyone contributed to a solid

victory.”

Doud, McKee and Reid each scored four goals and Duplisea scored

three times.

Laguna played at University Wednesday and host Peninsula today at

4 p.m.

In girls’ soccer Tuesday, Laguna dropped a 4-0 Pacific Coast

League game to host Northwood.

The Breakers, who are now 1-4 in league play, trailed at the half,

2-0.

In boys’ PCL soccer action, Laguna fell to Corona del Mar, 1-0,

and University, 4-1.

Adam Turbi scored the lone goal in the University match, and Erik

Haug had six saves.

The Breakers host Calvary Chapel today at 6:15 p.m. at Guyer Field.