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Laguna Beach’s winning streak ended by Mater Dei

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The thing about streaks is that at some point they end, and two long-running ones fell by the wayside Saturday at Mater Dei High.

The Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team lost a nonleague game to the host Monarchs 6-5, ending the Breakers’ 44-game winning streak dating to the start of last season.

It was also the first time the Breakers have lost to Mater Dei in program history. They are now 14-1 against the Monarchs.

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Junior Hannah Constandse scored the game-winning goal with 2:53 remaining in the fourth quarter for the Monarchs, burying it into the near corner from the right side. Mater Dei players were clearly thrilled about the result in the closing seconds, after an overpass by Laguna Beach was picked up by Mater Dei senior Bella Baia.

Mater Dei (11-2), ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division 1 and 2, got a bit of revenge after losing to top-ranked Laguna Beach (13-1) in the Holiday Cup tournament final in overtime on Dec. 30. That game was more high-scoring, 12-11.

“[It feels] the best ever,” said Mater Dei senior goalie Marley Presiado, a Newport Beach resident who had seven saves, an assist and a steal Saturday. “I think that [Holiday Cup loss] really lit our fire, to work on all of the mistakes that we made in that game. It was such a high-scoring game, and just to come back and really shut it down on defense was really important for us.

“A huge focus of our practices for the past two weeks has been drive defense, because that’s kind of what they live and die off of. We just worked drive defense and I worked on not getting lobbed on, because there were a lot in the Holiday Cup game.”

If the teams are to meet for a third time this season, it likely won’t be at next weekend’s Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions. Laguna Beach coach Ethan Damato said the Breakers probably won’t play in the tournament, unless it is moved to Orange County. However, Highway 101 appears likely to reopen early next week, which would mean the tournament stays in Santa Barbara.

Damato said next week is finals week at Laguna Beach High. Also, next Saturday will be a memorial service for Allyson Lyle, the late wife of former Breakers boys’ water polo coach Trevor Lyle. Damato said that Allyson Lyle died Dec. 31 after a bout with cancer.

Baia and Constandse led Mater Dei with two goals each Saturday, while seniors Grace Thawley and Nicole Kresich each had one. Senior Alex Peros had two goals scored and four exclusions drawn for Laguna Beach, which also got one goal each from senior Evan Tingler, junior Claire Kelly and freshman Molly Renner.

Senior goalie Thea Walsh made 13 saves for Laguna Beach, which held Mater Dei to just one for eight on the power play. The Monarchs also drew two penalty shots, converting one. Laguna Beach was three for six on the power play.

Laguna Beach had a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but the Monarchs erased it with a power-play strike from Thawley, then a pair of quick goals by Kresich and Baia early in the second quarter. The Breakers would score just twice more all game.

“Our defense was our rock today, and that’s got to be our mentality every game if we want to be a competitor for a CIF championship,” Mater Dei coach Chris Segesman said.

Damato said after the game that he was frustrated with the refereeing. The Breakers battled foul trouble. Tingler picked up her second exclusion in the second quarter, while fellow senior starter Alana Evans got her second exclusion early in the third.

“I don’t think that we’re ever more physical than they are, but we seem to lose the exclusion ratio against them every single time that we play them,” Damato said. “It was 7-2 [against us] in the final of the Holiday Cup … I’m pretty frustrated right now.”

Laguna senior Sophia Lucas, who strained her neck against Corona del Mar on Wednesday, started but did not score in the game, though she had an assist and two field blocks. Lucas is the Breakers’ leading scorer this season, but Damato said she was clearly not 100% against Mater Dei.

As for the Breakers going forward, Damato said the streak ending was not a focus.

“The first thing I told the girls is that, ‘I hope nobody’s concerned about that,’ ” Damato said. “Obviously it’s OK if you are a little bit, it’s just the nature of the beast. But that’s not something we’re worried about. We come out of this game knowing where we need to go from here. You lose sometimes, and after a loss is where you can tell a lot about a team. Hopefully we come out of this situation stronger and better.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo

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