Girls’ water polo: Laguna Beach’s Fischer answers Sailors’ run
LAGUNA BEACH — The Newport Harbor High girls’ water polo team came close to earning the first major upset of the 2014-15 season on Tuesday afternoon.
Two days before Christmas, though, Laguna Beach senior Makenzie Fischer wasn’t really in the giving mood.
Fischer seemingly did everything for Laguna Beach, the top-ranked defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 champion. Unfortunately for the Sailors, that included scoring the game-winning goal.
Fischer netted it from about six meters with 23 seconds left and the Breakers held on for a 9-8 win over the Sailors in a wild nonleague game at Laguna Beach High.
Laguna Beach (5-0) has now won 26 straight matches dating to last year, and five straight over No. 3-ranked Newport Harbor (3-2).
Fischer is a U.S. women’s senior national team player. With U.S. Coach Adam Krikorian watching on the cramped Laguna pool deck on Tuesday, she put on a show. Her seventh goal came after she tried to get a foul outside five meters on Newport senior Rachel Whitelegge, who held her ground and a foul wasn’t called. But Fischer whipped it into the back of the net anyway.
Newport called timeout to try to get a tying goal, but senior Ellie Reid’s skip shot from the outside was corralled by Laguna goalie Holly Parker at the buzzer.
“[Fischer] is a heck of a player,” said Newport Coach Brian Melstrom, who assumed head coaching duties for the second straight game as Bill Barnett is recovering from hip surgery. “It’s a good confidence builder for our girls, though.”
Senior captain Kate Pipkin and Reid each scored three goals for the Sailors, coming off last week’s Battle of the Bay win over Corona del Mar. Whitelegge had two goals, three steals and an assist. Senior goalie Carlee Kapana again had a stellar game with 13 saves, nearly scoring on a full-court shot to end the first half.
Laguna played without its talented sophomore Aria Fischer (knee), Makenzie’s younger sister. But either way, the Sailors made the Breakers work for the win.
Newport Harbor never led, but the score was tied, 3-3, at halftime before Laguna seemingly took control. Fischer had four goals in the third quarter as the hosts took a 7-4 lead.
The Sailors clawed back. Pipkin scored from center on a pass from fellow senior Isabel Leveque, then Whitelegge scored falling away from five meters to trim the deficit to 7-6 with 4:37 left to play.
Taylor Julson’s outside strike gave Laguna an 8-6 advantage, but Newport didn’t quit. Reid scored a six-on-five goal after Whitelegge’s cross pass, then Reid scored on a cross-cage lob from the right to tie it at 8-8 with 1:32 remaining.
“I think we kind of got into our groove,” Pipkin said. “You get a tempo, and you keep with it, and everyone kind of clicks on that level ... I think we did a lot better job on defense that quarter, just making sure we didn’t get grabbed and kicked off of, then they go on the counterattack. We were just really cautious when we were on offense, making sure we could get back on defense so they wouldn’t score.”
Makenzie Fischer had the answer at the end, though. That wasn’t really surprising to Pipkin, who was kicked out twice in the first half trying to guard her.
“The reason she’s so good is because she keeps everyone guessing,” Pipkin said. “She’s not a predictable player, and that’s why it’s so hard to guard her, along with being fast and strong and many other things.”
Laguna Beach Coach Ethan Damato said he felt like Fischer willed his team to victory. But he said his team wasn’t very creative on offense overall.
“If you talk to the majority of the girls, I don’t think anybody really feels like we played very well,” Damato said. “But we won. We’re going to feel good about that, but I think the majority of our team feels like we could be a lot sharper. I’m glad Makenzie came to play.”
Both teams resume play at the annual Holiday Cup tournament, which is Jan. 2-3 at Newport Harbor and CdM. Laguna Beach is the defending tournament champion.
