MATT’S MUSINGS: Seniors emerge as champions

One is going to Stanford, one to UCLA, one to Cal and one to UC Santa Barbara.

Call them a Division I water polo-playing quartet. They signed letters of intent in the fall, just before the high school girls’ water polo season got underway.

On Saturday afternoon, however, playing in college was the furthest thing from the minds of four Laguna Beach High seniors.

Annika Dries, Natasha Schulman, Taylor Dodson and Sarah Zuziak were finally CIF champions.

And all four ladies have been playing varsity for the Breakers long enough to know what that really means.

“It’s kind of funny, because I started playing with Taylor in age-group, seventh grade, when I first started water polo,” Dries said. “Then I started to know Natasha in eighth grade, as we started playing with national team. And I’ve known Sarah since seventh grade, when we started playing. When you think of it in just one game, it’s ‘OK, great, we beat Montebello 9-5.’ But when you take it out of the perspective of my whole water polo career, it’s kind of funny how it’s all led up to this point.

“That makes it more emotional. During the game, I have to be not as emotional. But, after the game, I just looked back and said, ‘Wow. We did this together.’ It’s been a great ride.”

It was two years ago that they suffered a heartbreaking loss in the same Division II finals, this time at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. The score that night was 11-10, with Agoura the victor.

Last year, it was a semifinal loss to eventual champion Dos Pueblos. That game was another one-goal affair, 9-8.

But this year’s Breakers have trampled their division foes. Laguna Beach’s only four losses came against Division I opponents, all, again, by a single goal.

To win a CIF title, however, a team needs to be the best in its division. Laguna Beach has been money in Division II all year. The championship match was the fourth time the Breakers had beaten No. 2 Montebello this season.

Breakers Coach Ethan Damato has called Dries the best two-meter player in the nation. Hard to argue after watching her performance Saturday afternoon.

Coming off an eight-goal performance in a semifinal win over San Clemente, Dries had just two goals. But it was her assists, the attention that she drew and the exclusions that she caused that really showed her worth.

Schulman scored a goal while helping lead a defense that allowed Montebello just one second-half goal. Dodson also had a pair of assists and as a lefty, always causes matchup problems.

“It was so nice,” Schulman said. “These girls, I hang out with them every day, I see them all the time. I think it was just a big sigh of relief. We worked at this for four years, and it was just, ‘Finally. We did it right.’ “

Then there was Zuziak, the Gaucho-to-be who wasn’t in the pool. Slated to be the Breakers’ starting goalie, she instead broke her thumb earlier in the year, in a scrimmage no less. Sophomore Etianne Manetta emerged as goalie and has held the spot.

Healthy now, Zuziak watched Saturday’s game from the bench. Tough to take after waiting so long.

“But I’ve been playing with the team the whole four years, so I helped get them to where we are today,” she said. “We did it as a team. [Winning CIF] was our goal from the beginning, and so I’m happy.”

Damato said his seniors set the tone from the beginning of the year. It’s why he wasn’t worried Saturday, even as the Oilers held the lead for much of the first half.

“I just think that even after going down 2-1 after the first quarter, those seniors weren’t going to let us get out of that game without a win,” he said.

Yep, no worry at all for the Breakers after the match.

They were CIF champions.

Finally.

“It’s amazing because we have so much talent in our four seniors, and we’re all going to Division I schools next year to play water polo,” Dodson said. “They’re my best friends in the whole world; we’re really a family. It’s great to see my family members go off; I know they’re going to succeed in whatever they do. And it’s great to know that we can finish this year on a high note and let this be a memory that we can always have together.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at matthew.szabo@latimes.com.