Laguna gets it done at the end

SAN CLEMENTE “” Riley Duncan kept pushing her girl further back Tuesday afternoon at San Clemente High.

And pushing. And pushing.

The good defense was immediately rewarded, as Lexie Ross got the ball and fed Duncan for a one-on-nobody goal with three minutes to go in what ended up as a Laguna Beach 11-8 nonleague victory against host San Clemente.

“We had a one-goal lead at that point,” Coach Ethan Damato said. “That was huge. Riley’s up in a press right there, earns a turnover, we get a steal and get a one-on-nobody score. That’s huge.”

Ross (three goals, three assists) and Duncan (four goals, two steals) both played well for the Breakers. But they definitely weren’t the only ones.

Junior Etianne Manetta had yet another solid game and finished with 14 saves. Junior Jessica Shusko also played good two-meter defense, although San Clemente sophomore center Candyce Schroeder did have a team-high four goals.

Shusko has taken primary set defense responsibilities as sophomore Melena Masson has been out sick.

“[Shusko] has been huge,” Damato said.

“She held [Edison’s] Danielle Warde to zero goals. I think she had a penalty shot she didn’t earn. She also held Savannah Fletcher on Agoura, who is their best player, to zero goals. I think if the game’s called a little bit differently [Schroeder] doesn’t get some of those goals today. They were letting them play at two meters.”

The Breakers (4-0) were able to win the important Division II showdown over San Clemente (5-2), a team Laguna beat, 19-8, in the Division II semifinals a year ago.

This year, Laguna is ranked No. 2 in Division II and San Clemente is ranked No. 4.

San Clemente actually took a 4-3 lead early in the third on Schroeder’s goal. But the Breakers responded. Duncan scored a power-play goal and Ross scored from the right side. After Schroeder scored again to knot the match at 5, Breakers junior Jessie Holechek converted a power-play goal from the left after a cross-pool pass from Ross.

Ross scored on the counter after a big save from Manetta, then again on a counter and the Breakers had opened up an 8-5 lead.

“[Ross] was huge. I yelled at her for not pressing hard enough on one of the plays, and she comes back and scores two goals right away, gets it back for us. She’s a four-year varsity player. We need her to make those plays for us and thank God she did today.”

San Clemente closed to within 9-8 in the fourth quarter before Duncan’s one-on-nobody conversion. She said her four goals were a career high for varsity.

“They started going for it, but we kind of shifted the game toward us and started finishing on everything,” Duncan said. “We just tried to do everything we could We play really well together. We’ve been playing together for a really long time.”

The Breakers may know a bit more about how they stand against Southern California’s elite teams after next week. They play host to Dos Pueblos, the defending Division I champion, at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, they play at the two-day Holiday Cup tournament.

Laguna Beach is the No. 2 seed in Newport Harbor’s bracket for the tournament. The Breakers open against Santa Margarita and would play either Foothill or Santa Barbara in the second round.

“It’s going to be big,” Duncan said. “It’ll be tough, but I think we can do well. We might not win everything, but we’ll sure give it our all and just go for it.”