2007 LAGUNA BEACH BOYS’ WATER POLO PREVIEW:Breakers excited about season

Today marks the end of “hell week” for the Laguna Beach High boys’ water polo team, and tough two-a-day sessions in the school pool have yielded plenty.

First-year co-head coaches Chad Beeler and Ethan Damato took over the program in 2007 and have had a good look at their roster during the first week of practice. The duo inherits a squad that has three returning all-league players from last year’s team. But they’ll have to fill vacancies left by several all-league players who graduated in June.

“I think we have a pretty solid team on our hands this year,” Beeler said. “The kids have really worked hard this week, and I feel that they’ve been receptive to our coaching.

“I know about 90-percent of these kids from (Laguna Beach) age group water polo, as they have played for me in club ball. We have a talented group of players to work with.”

Last year — in what turned out to be Rick McKee’s final season as Breakers head coach — Laguna went 19-9 overall and reached the CIF-Southern Section Division II playoffs. The Breakers forged a nine-game winning streak along the way, went undefeated (6-0) in their first year in the Orange Coast League, but were bumped out of the playoffs after a first-round loss to a San Clemente team they had easily defeated earlier in the year.

Some of the key players gone from that team are standouts Peter Phelps, Cameron Brinkman, Kevin Westlake, Brad Fair and Johnny Holcomb.

But back for one more go-round are seniors Nathan McConnell, Pierre Masson, and goalie Warren Murrell.

McConnell, the Breakers’ primary driver, and Masson, the team’s main two-meter defender, have earned all-league status the past two years.

Other returning players are junior two-meter defender/driver Brett Thompson, junior driver Victor Alcone, junior two-meter defender/driver Preston Head, senior driver Sean Dorse and senior driver Johnny Meek.

Also contending for playing time are junior Sean Spera, sophomores David Brunner, Robert Chew and Zach Riegler, senior Anthony Ackley and sophomore Peter Wiedner, who will be the primary goalie on the frosh/soph team and serve as varsity back-up goalie to Murrell.

“This is really a fun group of kids to be around,” Beeler said. “There’s great parent support, too.

“I feel that a team that gets along well is a team that will play well together. This team definitely has that quality, and these kids are working their tails off in practice. We have a few holes to fill, but I’m pretty confident in this team.”

Laguna gets its first taste of game action with a Sept. 4 home scrimmage against Foothill/Riverside Poly.

The Breakers officially launch their schedule on Sept. 12 with a home match against a strong Foothill team.

Also during nonleague play, the Breakers will take on San Clemente, Newport Harbor, Aliso Niguel, Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo.

They also figure to get stiff competition from appearances at the Newport Harbor and Villa Park tournaments in late-September, as well as at the Tustin Varsity Tournament in October.

Laguna won the Tustin event last year.

Orange Coast League play has the Breakers taking on Estancia, Costa Mesa and Sage Hill twice each in home-and-away series.

“I wish we had a couple more nonleague games on the schedule but as it is, I think our schedule is pretty tough,” Beeler said.

“We’ll definitely have challenging games at the Newport and Villa Park tournaments and in league, I hear that Sage Hill and Costa Mesa are stronger this year.”

For all the success Laguna has had the past two years, the Breakers have had their season ended in first-round CIF playoff losses. Beeler says he’s confident that the Breakers can get past their postseason opener, when they get there.

“It’s going to be a long season but as we have gotten further and further into hell week, we’re definitely looking forward to getting the season started,” he said. “I’m anxious to see what progress we’ve made from the beginning of summer to now.

“These kids are hard-workers and have a lot of passion. I’m pretty confident that they’ll be very successful this year.”