Laguna Beach’s bus breaks down, team goes down at Paloma Valley in CIF quarterfinals

After traveling 123 miles to Lancaster on Tuesday for the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs, the Laguna Beach High girls’ soccer team knew that it had another long trip for the quarterfinals.

The 73-mile journey to Menifee Paloma Valley started almost an hour later than planned on Friday. Laguna Beach athletic director Lance Neal said the Breakers’ team bus broke down going up the hill on Third Street, on the way to the school.

“We walked down to the bus, and we had to get a tow truck to pull it down the hill,” Breakers senior captain Alden Kramer said. “We boarded it on the next street over.”

Laguna Beach’s bus didn’t get to Paloma Valley High until 4:30 p.m., just a half-hour before the scheduled start time, which was pushed back 20 minutes.

Like the trip, the game had a rough start for the Breakers. They allowed two early goals and lost to the top-seeded and undefeated Wildcats 3-0, ending Laguna Beach’s season in the quarterfinals for the second straight season.

There was still room for reflection for Laguna Beach (12-10-2), which won its second straight outright Orange Coast League title this season and made back-to-back CIF quarterfinal appearances for the first time in program history. Laguna Beach has never made the CIF semifinals, falling to 0-4 in the quarterfinals after Friday’s loss.

“This was, to a lot of people, a rebuilding year,” first-year Laguna Beach coach Ben Helm said. “We had four returning starters. For them to accomplish what they did, it was nothing short of fantastic. I’m super-proud of them, but you can see on the field what we needed.

“We need some maturity, and we need some players who aspire to play at the highest level, so that they’re playing year-round. We have several players out there who don’t play club soccer year-round, It’s such a competitive environment now, you’ve got to have players who are playing year-round when you get to this part of the season.”

The Breakers were able to keep Paloma Valley sophomore forward Nicole Dallin, who came into the game with 51 goals this season, off the scoreboard.

But junior Miale Jones scored twice for the Wildcats (22-0-3), who have won 13 straight matches and will play host to No. 4 St. Margaret’s (20-5-0) in the semifinals on Tuesday. St. Margaret’s blanked Montclair 3-0 in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Jones scored in the sixth minute, but Laguna Beach standout sophomore forward Reilyn Turner almost had an answer two minutes later. Turner had the ball in the right side of the box, but Paloma Valley senior goalkeeper Peyton Broccardo-Rehak, sprawled on the ground, grabbed the ball near the end line before Turner, a UCLA commit, could get a shot off.

“They were comprehensively better in every facet of the game,” Helm said. “I told the girls you have to tip your hat, [but] it would have been interesting if Reilyn would have scored after they went up, to make it 1-1.”

Instead, Paloma Valley’s Payton Whitcomb scored on the other end in the 23rd minute. The hosts’ final goal came late, in the 73rd minute, after a throw-in by Sam Ritchie deep in Laguna Beach territory.

Dallin’s header in the box was stopped by Laguna sophomore keeper Camila Reese (eight saves), but Jones scored a rebound goal.

One of Laguna’s Beach’s best chances in the second half came on a cross from the right by freshman Ella Dartez, but she couldn’t quite connect with senior captain Haylee Jarvis in the box.

“We knew they were going to be a tough team, but I’m really proud of us because we battled very hard,” Jarvis said. “We worked as a team.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo