Laguna girls come up a little short

Disappointed but pleased.

It’s not often that those two sentiments go hand-in-hand but for a few members of the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team, those were the feelings expressed when describing the outcome of Wednesday’s CIF-Southern Section girls’ water polo Division II semifinal match between the Breakers and Dos Pueblos.

Laguna gave a standout all-around performance against the division’s top-ranked team but came up short in a 9-8 loss at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center on the Irvine High campus.

The setback marked the second time this season that the Breakers have fallen to the Chargers: back on Jan. 10, Laguna lost at the Dos Pueblos pool, 7-4.

This time, Laguna gave the Chargers all they could handle — and more.

“It’s one of those things where you are disappointed in losing but feel really good about how you played,” Laguna junior hole set Annika Dries said. “I thought we played really well as a team. We’ve been playing so much more together since we last played Dos Pueblos, and it showed.”

Dries was continually double-teamed on the Laguna end of the pool, but still made her presence felt.

“There’s frustration that comes when you’re double-teamed but that’s when you set up the outside for your teammates,” she said. We did a good job from the outside and it was great to see freshman Jessie Holechek score those goals. She did an awesome job and our goalie Sarah (Zuziak) was outstanding as well.”

Laguna stunned Dos Pueblos by jumping out to a 2-0 lead just 1:12 into the game. Riley Duncan won the opening sprint and Holechek scored on Laguna’s first possession of the game. Junior Taylor Dodson struck next, scoring off an attack from the right-side.

The teams ended up tied 2-2 after the first quarter.

Dos Pueblos took its first lead at 3-2 on a goal by Helen Zukin early in the second quarter but two minutes later, Zuziak blocked a shot by Dos Pueblos freshman hot-shot Kiley Neuchul, then sent a long lead pass to Dries who scored on an uncontested lob to tie the score at 3-3 with 3:09 to go in the half.

Holechek notched her second goal on a shot from the perimeter as Laguna regained the lead at 4-3. In the final 1:30 of the half, Zuziak came up with two big blocks and Holechek scored her third goal when her long shot got past Chargers goalie Sami Hill just before the halftime buzzer sounded to increase Laguna’s lead to 5-3.

But just after the half, Dos Pueblos struck.

And quickly took back the momentum.

“That third quarter killed us,” Laguna co-head coach Chad Beeler said. “I don’t know why we came out the way we did from the half. I kept reminding the girls that our practices lately have been geared toward Dos Pueblos. Not geared toward any team in general, but specifically toward Dos Pueblos.”

Within the first 43 seconds of the second half, the Chargers drew even at 5-5. First, Amanda Redfern scored with just nine seconds elapsed in the half. Then, Tiera Schroeder connected on a penalty shot.

The teams ended the quarter tied at 6-6 with sophomore Lexie Ross scoring on a left-handed sweep shot off a feed from Dodson with a minute left in the quarter.

Laguna took its final lead with 5:50 to play when Dodson ripped a shot into the net with the Breakers in a man-advantage situation. The lead was short-lived, though, as Schroeder scored 15 seconds later with Dos Pueblos enjoying a man-up advantage of its own.

The Chargers went back into the lead with 2:49 to go when Neuchul’s shot was blocked by Ross but teammate Alex Hill was there to gather the loose ball and slide the go-ahead goal into the net.

On Laguna’s next possession, Hill came up with a steal in the corner, fed Neuchul who then scored her first goal of the match to give Dos Pueblos its biggest lead at 9-7 with 1:55 left.

Laguna registered its final goal with 35 seconds remaining when freshman Jessica Shusko scored on a skip shot for her first score of the game.

The Breakers, who reached last year’s Division II championship match, finished the year 21-9.

Only one senior, Lauren Elliott, won’t be back in the line-up next year.

“I thought we played one heck of a game tonight,” Beeler said. “Dos Pueblos is a pretty tough team but we were right there. It’s one of those games where you play really well but lose, and it doesn’t sink in.

“We’re a young team and they’re a young team. I think we’ll be seeing them in either the semis or finals next year. That’s a definite possibility.”

Saturday’s Division II final will be an all-Channel League final, pitting Dos Pueblos against No. 3-seed Santa Barbara.

Laguna had advanced to the semifinal round by knocking off defending division champion Agoura, 17-6, in a quarterfinal match at Agoura on Feb. 16. Natasha Schulman led all scorers with four goals and added three assists. Dodson scored three times and had a match-best six assists, Holechek scored three goals and had a pair of assists, Dries scored three goals and Madison Duncan twice.

It was Laguna’s second win of the season over Agoura. The Breakers defeated the Chargers 15-10 on Dec. 20.

The Breakers began the postseason on Feb. 14 with a 20-10 home win over Brea Olinda. Dries posted five goals with three assists and three steals. Holechek scored a game-high six goals; Schulman had three goals, three assists and four steals; Ross three goals, two assists and two steals; Elliott two goals and an assist; Zuziak had four saves and Etianne Manetta had three saves and an assist.

“I’m disappointed that we lost but at the same time I feel good about how we played,” said Holechek who was participating in the CIF playoffs for the first time. “We’re a young team and I think we gained some valuable experience. I’m really excited about next year because we will be here again.”