Breakers get it done

COMMERCE — The Commerce Casino is straight ahead off the 5 Freeway, on the way to the Commerce Aquatorium.

Members of the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team are too young to gamble. They had enough to worry about Wednesday afternoon on their way to face Montebello, in a rematch of last year’s CIF Southern Section Division II championship game, won by Laguna.

Both teams are younger this year, with one senior on each side. But, in crunch time, sophomore Yoshi Andersen doubled down to help the Breakers earn a 9-7 nonleague win at the Aquatorium.

Andersen had a game-high four goals for Laguna Beach (7-3), ranked No. 2 in the division. Two of those came in the fourth quarter, giving the Breakers a two-goal lead on a precise lob shot from the right with 3:21 to go. Then, after the Oilers’ Laura Lopez scored her fourth goal of the game, Andersen responded from set, beating a Montebello defender — and crashing goalie Leticia Perez — with a backhand shot with 1:05 to go.

That goal gave the Breakers their final advantage.

“She really had energy all game,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said of Andersen. “You saw some bar-outs in the first half, but we told her to keep shooting throughout the game. We wanted her to be aggressive.”

The Breakers all were, and needed to be against the Oilers (3-5), ranked No. 5 in Division II. Montebello stayed close all game and even took a 5-4 lead early in the second half on Lopez’s goal from near mid-pool.

But Laguna’s Riley Duncan immediately responded to even the score, then Jessie Holechek scored on a power play, after perimeter passes from junior Jessica Shusko and Andersen.

“They made that run in the third quarter,” said Breakers’ senior and Stanford commit Lexie Ross, who finished with a goal and a steal. “But we knew that we could beat them from every end of the pool. We just had to pull together. It just took all of us talking and communicating with each other, and we were really able to pull together.”

The Breakers, who finished fourth at the Holiday Cup last week, have been pulling together all season long. Different players have stepped up at different times, which causes problems for opponents.

“In years past, we’ve always had a big core of people who were the big scorers,” Ross said. “They were who the plays were for, they were who the scorers were. This year, we’ve had a new approach. We don’t have four, three or two people who run our team. We have six starters. I feel confident with any one of them having the ball. It’s given such a chance for everyone to step up. From our first starter to the last person off the bench, they all can play.”

Holechek had two goals and a steal, while Duncan and Shusko added a team-high three steals each.

Freshman Lexie del Toro also scored for the Breakers, while junior goalie Etianne Manetta had yet another strong game in goal, finishing with nine saves.

Manetta had a particularly important save late in the third, with the Breakers in a five-on-six situation. She pounced to her right to block a point-blank shot from Montebello’s Zyania Morales at the post, helping Laguna Beach keep a 6-5 lead after three quarters.

Montebello tied it at 6-6 early in the fourth before the Breakers again seized control.

“I think we got comfortable with our lead for a while, and that’s how they made their advantage,” Holechek said.

“But then, I think we just realized that we needed to keep playing hard. They were going to play hard back.”

Montebello Coach David Keys said he did appreciate his team’s effort. But he bemoaned missed shots, counting 18 that the Oilers made, along with 15 turnovers.

“It’s just little things,” said Keys, whose team plays the division’s top-ranked team, Palos Verdes, today.

“But little things add up. I thought we played really good defense but they got some push-ins or whatever If we go 1-1 this week I’ll be happy. If we go 0-2, I’ll still be happy, because we want to play these teams to see where we’re at. I think we’re a good team; we just have to execute better.”

Damato, meanwhile, wasn’t surprised that his team would rally back.

“Our girls seem to do that every time,” he said. “They find ways to win and they make big plays when they need them.”

Laguna plays Rosary at 3:15 p.m. today at Servite High. The Breakers then open Orange Coast League play Wednesday at Estancia before heading to the prestigious Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Jan. 15-16.

The Breakers advanced to the semifinals of the Holiday Cup before falling to Newport Harbor, 6-2, then Corona del Mar, 4-2, in the third-place game on Dec. 31. Two days earlier, they hung with Dos Pueblos early before falling to the defending Division I champions in a nonleague match, 7-3.

Damato said sophomore Melena Masson, a valuable defender, may be ready to return to action soon. Masson has missed the first month of the season with mononucleosis.