Girls qualify for Jr. Olympics

The Laguna Beach Water Polo Age Group girls’ 14-and-under team went on the defensive last weekend and rode that form to the SOPAC Zone championship.

By winning the gold medal at the weekend tournament at the Irvine Aquatics Complex, Laguna has qualified for the Junior Olympics water polo tournament in August.

Using a rotation of Jessie Holechek, Jessica Shusko, Melena Masson, Yoshi Andersen, Candyce Schroeder, Kelsey Thorton, Riley Duncan and goalie Edy Manetta, Laguna dominated it opponents with defense. Masson led the hole set offense with Holechek, Shusko and Schroeder figuring in the mix. Shusko, Andersen, Thorton and Duncan created havoc with double-teams and switches on defense.

Reserves Kaitlyn Waidley, Bridget Alvarez and Lida De Groote also made key contributions.

Impressively, Laguna didn’t allow its first goal until three minutes remained in the fourth quarter of their third game, amounting to 57 minutes of shutout ball.

The defense shut out its opponents in 15 of the 20 quarters played.

Laguna trailed just once in the tournament, which came in a semifinal match and that deficit lasted less than 20 seconds.

Laguna 12, Socal 0Yoshi Andersen led the offense with five goals, followed by four scores by Jessie Holechek.

Jessica Shusko, Riley Duncan and Kelsey Thorton also scored.

Laguna 10,Jessica Shusko, Yoshi Andersen and Candyce Schroeder each scored twice and Lida De Groote, Kelsey Thornton, Jessie Holechek and Edy Manetta also found the net.

Huntington Beach 0

Laguna 8, Newport Beach 1Laguna finally relinquished a goal but still had more than enough firepower to dispose of Newport Beach in a quarterfinal match.

Jessie Holechek had four goals, Jessica Shusko two and Riley Duncan and Yoshi Andersen also scored.

Laguna 7, Chino Hills 4This semifinal match against Chino Hills proved to be Laguna’s toughest test of the tournament.

Chino Hills scored in the first minute of the match but consecutive goals by Melina Masson on a lob and Jessie Holechek after drawing a kick out and converting from the wing on a 6-on 5- advantage, gave Laguna its first lead, 2-1.

Chino Hills took advantage of a mistake by the Laguna defense to tie the score but Kelsey Thornton drew another kick out and Schroeder converted for a 3-2 lead at the half.

The score was tied one final time at 3-3 in the third quarter before Masson drew a five-meter and Holechek found the back of the net for a 4-3 Laguna edge. Holechek then went on to score on a sweep shot off feed from Jessica Shusko to up the advantage to 5-3.

Chino Hills scored with four seconds left in the quarter to pull to within 5-4. Early in the fourth quarter, Edy Manetta made two key saves early in the period and then Holechek, Shusko and Masson combined on an offensive set that led to Masson’s second goal of the match for a 6-4 Laguna lead. Manetta came up with another save to protect the two-goal lead. Yoshi Andersen then drew a five-meter and that led to a third goal by Holechek to finish the scoring.

Laguna 8, Los Alamitos 1The final proved to be anticlimactic, as Laguna rolled past Los Alamitos for the title.

While the defense wasn’t allowing Los Alamitos an offensive shot on its first five possessions, Laguna’s offense used three goals by Jessie Holechek to build a 3-0 lead. Jessica Shusko drew a kick out that led to Lagna’s first goal and after Holechek scored from out front, Candyce Schroeder drew another kick out to set up Holechek for her third goal.

In the second quarter, Schroeder and Melena Masson teamed up on offense with Masson doing the honors as the lead grew to 4-0. Shusko scored on a sweep shot following an assist from Holechek to put Laguna up, 5-0 at the half.