Laguna wins Newport tourney

The Laguna Beach Water Polo 14-and-Under team overcame the absence of two key players last weekend to win their division of the Newport Summer Tournament, after earning a second-place finish in the 16-and-Under division of the Northwood Tournament Saturday.

Northwood Tournament

Laguna opened play in the 16-and-Under tournament at Northwood High with a 5-3 win over the University of San Diego. Riley Duncan scored a pair of goals in the third quarter, one off a feed from Jessica Shusko, to pull away from a 3-3 tie.

Candyce Schroeder, Jesse Holechek and Shusko scored Laguna’s first three goals. Holechek, who played part time in goal ? Laguna was without the services of its regular keeper, Edy Manetta ? made several saves to preserve the victory.

Laguna’s defense, featuring the play of Melina Masson, Kelsey Thorton, Yoshi Andersen and Hannah Lawson, shut out University in the second half. Duncan also played in goal for Laguna.

In its second contest, Laguna survived a split Corona del Mar squad in overtime, 4-3. With 19 seconds remaining in overtime, Holechek flipped a pass to Shusko who drew a defender toward her and then she fired a pass back to Holechek. A shot by Holechek high the crossbar, but Andersen was there for the rebound and put in the game-winning goal.

Melina Masson scored twice and Shusko once for Laguna and Hampton and Shusko led Laguna’s defensive charge.

In its third outing Saturday, Laguna took on the other split squad from Corona del Mar and like in its previous match needed overtime to take an 8-7 victory.

With less than a minute to play in the five-minute overtime, Shusko drew a kick out. With a 6 on 5 advantage, Masson was fouled at the two-meter line as she was shooting and Laguna was awarded a free shot from the five-meter line. Holechek calmly buried the shot into the back of the net to end the match.

Shusko scored three goals and Holechek had one as Laguna claimed a 4-1 lead after one quarter. A goal by Hampton pushed the locals into a 5-2 halftime advantage.

Corona del Mar fought back in the second half to take the lead, but a goal by Shusko in the fourth quarte tied the score at 6-6. CdM took a 7-6 lead but Holechek scored off a set play to even the score again.

In the final of the 16-and-Under tourney, a physical San Diego Shores team defeated Laguna, 8-3. Hampton, Anderson and Holechek scored for Laguna.

Newport Summer Tournament

In the 14-and-Under tournament played at the Corona Del Mar High pool, Laguna started the event with a 9-0 wipe out of Corona del Mar. Masson scored three times, and Schroeder and Thorton each scored twice. Hampton and Holechek also scored and Lawson added a couple of key assists.

In the second contest, Laguna took on SET of El Toro and came back to claim a 5-3 victory. SET opened up a 2-0 lead in the second quarter and held that advantage at the half.

Midway through the third quarter, Anderson showed her speed as she converted a mid-pool steal into Laguna’s first score. She then assisted Holechek’s score, which tied the match at 2-2. When Schroeder scored on a pop shot, Laguna took the lead for good.

Holechek added two more goals in the third quarter, with assists going to Masson and Shusko, and Laguna had a 5-3 win.

In the tournament final against the Stars, Laguna held on for a 7-6 victory to win the tournament trophy.

With 28 seconds left in regulation, the Stars drew a kick out but defensive deflections by Holechek and Shusko denied the Stars a good shot on goal. Laguna was able to gain possession and call timeout when Duncan came up with the ball after a scramble in front of the Laguna goal, and Laguna was able to run out the final 14 seconds.

Masson posted four goals, including two in the third quarter, as Laguna rallied to go on top, 6-5. Shusko, Andersen and Schroeder also scored, with Schoreder’s goal giving Laguna a 7-5 advantage late in the fourth quarter.

Thorton came up with a key strip on defense in the third quarter to aid Laguna’s comeback.