Polo boys split tourney games

Mike Sciacca

The Laguna Beach 12-and-under boys’ water polo team wrapped up play

at the Junior Olympic Tournament in San Jose Tuesday by defeating

Chehalem of Oregon, 17-2.

The win gave Laguna a 2-2 record for the tournament, which earned

them a 17th-place finish in the division.

Twenty-four teams competed for the 12-and-under championship.

The 24 teams were divided into eight brackets, each consisting of

three teams.

The tournament began last Friday and concluded Tuesday.

Laguna players returned home following their win Tuesday over

Chehalem.

“I thought we played really, really well during the tournament,”

Laguna coach Chad Beeler said. “We just got caught up in a really

tough bracket.”

Bracket play opened Saturday against a tough opponent in Santa

Barbara, which defeated Laguna by a 9-5 score.

Later that day, Laguna took top-seed Los Alamitos to the limit

before falling, 10-9.

Laguna trailed by four goals heading into the final quarter, then

staged a frantic rally that fell short.

Nolan McConnell and Spencer Dodson, two key starters for Laguna,

were given special attention by the Los Alamitos defense.

Los Alamitos pressed McConnell and double-teamed Dodson at his

hole set position, but both Laguna players still managed to score big

goals.

By applying such pressure, Los Alamitos forced Laguna to shoot

from the outside, where Nicky Brunner was up to the challenge.

“Nicky surf came up with two big goals from past seven meters,”

Beeler said. “He did a great job from the outside.

“After losing those first two games, we were forced to play for

17th-place, which was the highest we could finish in the tournament.

The guys were happy with what they accomplished, but disappointed

that the best they could finish would be 17th-place. We really took

it to our final two opponents.”

Laguna’s third game, scheduled for Sunday, was canceled when its

opponent pulled out of the tournament.

On Monday, Laguna registered its initial tournament victory by

handling Newport Beach, 9-3.

Laguna completed tournament play Tuesday with its 17-2 triumph

over Chehalem of Oregon.

McConnell and Dodson led Laguna against Chehalem, and Trevor

Collins, a nine-year-old and youngest member on the Laguna squad,

scored a goal on a breakaway.

Goalie Hunter French came up with several big saves throughout the

tournament, Beeler said.

Only three players on Laguna’s 12-and-Under roster -- starters

Dodson and French, and Drew Kanner -- will move up to play in the

14-and-Under Division in January 2006.

“This is a real young team that realizes that it can play with the

top teams,” Beeler said. “This tournament gives them the experience

they need.”

The Laguna 12-and-Under boys’ squad is composed of McConnell,

Dodson, French, Kanner, Trevor Collins, Dylan Payne, Alex Shapero and

Riley Browne.