Girls’ Water Polo: Breakers dominate again
IRVINE — The Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team had a good time dancing and singing on the way to Woollett Aquatics Center on Wednesday night.
“The bus driver got a little mad at us,” senior Bella Baldridge said. “We had to calm down a little bit. One of our girls has a speaker, and we just turned it up really loud. It was great.”
Senior Aria Fischer smiled and added, “[Head coach] Ethan [Damato] got a little mad at us.”
After the Breakers dominated Dos Pueblos in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 semifinals, Damato just smirked.
“I got mad because the bus driver got mad,” he explained to his team captains, Baldridge, Fischer and senior Claire Sonne.
Loudness aside, Damato had to like the energy his team had going into the semifinal. Once the game started, the Breakers converted it into crisp passes, hard shots and great saves by junior goalie Thea Walsh.
The result, a 14-4 win over No. 4-seeded Dos Pueblos, has top-seeded Laguna Beach a game away from its third Division 1 title in four years. The Breakers (30-0) will play No. 3-seeded Santa Barbara San Marcos, an 11-9 winner over No. 2 Mater Dei in the first semifinal, for the title on Saturday back at Woollett.
Fischer had four goals for Laguna and Baldridge and junior Sophia Lucas added three each against Dos Pueblos (22-8). The Breakers were dominant, taking an 8-1 halftime advantage and leading by as much as 14-1 in the fourth quarter, when junior Evan Tingler got on the scoreboard.
At least 11 of the 14 goals were assisted, with one coming on a penalty shot. Baldridge and Sonne led the way with three helpers each, while Fischer had two.
Lucas had a strong first half with three goals scored, a field block and an exclusion drawn.
“Overall, I thought we were clicking on pretty much all cylinders,” Damato said. “When we broke down defensively, Thea was there behind us [finishing with 11 saves and two steals], which is something we’re used to. Offensively, I thought we shared the ball really well and finished really well. It was a fun game to watch and coach, for sure.
“You hope that’s more excitement than it is nerves when you get here, because it’s a tough stage to play on. We tried to talk about it coming into the game that we have to enjoy it. It’s too cool of a stage to play on to not enjoy what’s going on around us. I thought the girls really stayed in the moment tonight, seemed like they were having a lot of fun and played great.”
The Breakers showcased their precise passing on one play in the third quarter. The sequence went from Sonne to Tingler to Isabel Riches, who scored the first of her two goals inside.
“We’re always playing for each other and making the extra passes, for sure,” Sonne said. “Everyone stepped it up this game.”
Defensively, Laguna was able to slow Dos Pueblos’ talented young core. Freshman Jewel Roemer led the Chargers with two goals and two steals, and Ryann Neushul and Amelia Meckelborg added goals in the fourth quarter.
Laguna Beach improved to 2-0 this season against Dos Pueblos, after also beating the Chargers 11-5 in the semifinals of the Irvine Southern California Championships tournament. In that game, similar to Wednesday night, the Breakers jumped out to a 9-1 halftime advantage.
But come CIF time, Laguna is taking nothing for granted.
“Honestly, CIF water polo is a different type of water polo,” Fischer said. “I was really proud of our girls, no matter what happened before this game, with how we came out this game. I think we showed how together we are.”
Junior Alex Peros had a goal, an assist and two steals for the winners, who on Saturday will match up with San Marcos for the second time this season. The Breakers beat the Royals, 15-6, in a Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions semifinal on Jan. 14.
“I’m excited,” Damato said. “Number one, I’m excited to be back in a championship game, first and foremost. I’m stoked for San Marcos to get there, that’s great for them. We’re happy to play whoever is in the championship game. We’ll start thinking about that matchup [Thursday], but it’s going to be fun polo and I’m excited to get after it.”
When Saturday rolls around, expect another fun bus ride for the Breakers.
“It’s awesome,” Sonne said. “The closeness of this team is so special. We’re a family; these girls are our sisters.”
