Landmark victory for Breaker poloists

Laguna shocks top-ranked Newport Harbor, 13-11.The Laguna Beach High boys’ water polo team scored a landmark victory over visiting Newport Harbor on Oct. 20.

The 13-11 shocker over the Sailors, who came into the match ranked first in CIF-Southern Section Division I, county and state polls, was the first ever recorded by Laguna over Newport.

“It definitely was an emotional victory,” Laguna coach Rick McKee said of a match played before a standing-room-only crowd at the Laguna pool.

McKee used a simple yet effective pregame strategy to fire up his team.

“I was very frank with them before the match,” he said. “I told them that I would really doubt that they could beat Corona del Mar and Northwood if they didn’t play well against Newport. That seemed to pump them up.”

The Breakers hung tough with the Sailors throughout the physical match, and the turning point came with Newport holding an 8-5 lead in the third quarter.

It was then that the Sailors drew a brutality penalty and, it seemed, the Breakers drew new life.

“Our guys were doing a great job hanging with Newport, and I was proud of them, the way they kept their composure at that point in play,” McKee said. “We never let up after that penalty.”

Laguna passed the Sailors, 9-8, with five minutes to play, and never trailed again.

Laguna’s Adam Kaplan led all scorers in the match with six goals.

Peter Phelps, who was punched in the face on the brutality penalty, McKee said, finished with three goals. Mike Dick netted two goals, and Cameron Brinkman and Pierre Masson each had one. Senior Kelan Hurley left the game with one minute to play and was sent to the hospital with a concussion.

On Tuesday, Laguna suffered a 10-9 nonleague loss to host Esperanza. The Aztecs scored the winning goal with five seconds left on the game clock. Laguna had taken a 4-1 lead, but Esperanza reeled off six consecutive goals to take a 7-4 lead.

The Aztecs were up, 9-5, with two minutes to play, before the Breakers responded.

“That’s very atypical of this team,” McKee said. “They can be up or down, and they decided to play hard in those final two minutes, and nearly pulled it out.”

Laguna, 17-7 and ranked ninth in CIF-SS Division I, currently is competing in the North Orange County Tournament.

The Breakers play their second tournament game at 5:45 today, against Long Beach Poly at Northwood High.

Laguna was awarded a forfeit victory over Marina to open the tournament, then suffered a 12-5 loss to Carlsbad.20051028iozsf7knMARK DUSTIN / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Laguna Beach’s Adam Kaplan fires a shot on goal over a Newport Harbor defender in Thursday’s game at Laguna Beach High School.