14-and-under girls net top-10 finish

Mike Sciacca

Turning in a solid showing in San Jose, the Laguna Beach girls’

14-and-Under water polo team came up with a 10th-place finish at the

USA Water Polo Girls’ National Junior Olympics.

Laguna won four matches en route to its top 10 finish.

The locals lost the ninth-place game to Riptides of Florida, 10-6.

Laguna finished 10th out of 36 teams competing in the 14-and-under

tournament.

Members of the Laguna team include coaches Ethan Demato and Chad

Beeler; goalie Sarah Zuziak; and field players Annika Dries, Hannah

Fait, Lexy Ross, Kacky Brown, Madison Duncan, Dylan Conroy, Ari

Palmer, Ari Ross and Siena Martin.

Game 1

Laguna 12, North San Diego Stars 1

Dries burned the net for six goals as Laguna rolled in its

tournament opener.

Conroy also scored multiple goals, with three, and Palmer, Duncan

and Fait each scored once.

Game 2

Diablo 7, Laguna 6

A last-second shot attempt by Laguna hit the crossbar as time

expired, allowing Diablo to escape with the victory.

Diablo went on to finish third in the tournament.

Conroy scored a goal just 57 seconds into the final period, but

consecutive goals by Diablo allowed them to take a 7-5 lead.

Dries led Laguna with four goals and Ross scored once.

Game 3

Laguna 11, Washington 1 Fait scored the first two goals of the match as Laguna raced to an

early lead and never let up.

Ross scored three goals and Dries, Duncan and Palmer each scored

twice.

Game 4

Laguna 11, San Diego Shores 2

In their finest game of the tournament, Laguna spotted San Diego

Shores an early one-goal lead, but came back to rout its opponent.

Dries led the way with six goals, Ross scored three times, and

Conroy scored twice.

Game 5

Marin 9, Laguna 7

Laguna was stung with a tough loss in an overtime shootout.

Neither team scored in the opening period, but goals by Lexy Ross

and Ari Ross allowed Laguna to take a 2-0 halftime lead.

The teams were tied, 4-4, at the end of regulation, as Marin

posted the tying goal with 30 seconds remaining.

Marin outscored Laguna Beach, 5-3, in the deciding shootout.

Game 6

Laguna 7, Chino Hills 5

Laguna came back from a 2-0 first period deficit to secure a

top-10 finish by defeating Chino Hills.

Chino Hills caught Laguna at 5-5 just 1:50 into the final period,

but Duncan gave Laguna the lead 24 seconds later.

Dries added an insurance goal 44 seconds after Duncan’s goal.

Dries finished with two goals, and Ross scored three goals.

Game 7

Riptides 10, Laguna 6

Laguna rallied to tie Riptides, 3-3, but the team from Florida

scored seven straight goals over the second and third periods to take

control of the match.

Riptides led, 3-0, but a pair of goals by Conroy allowed Laguna to

pull to within 3-2 after one period.

Dries scored 45 seconds into the second period to tie the score,

but then Riptides went on its 7-0 scoring binge.

Brown, Ross and Dries all scored in the final period.