Fischer back for dangerous Breakers
The Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team opens the 2016-17 season with a unique and rare situation.
The Breakers have an Olympic gold medalist, Aria Fischer, back playing high school water polo for her senior year before she joins her older sister Makenzie at Stanford.
“I don’t know that it’s ever happened before,” Laguna Beach Coach Ethan Damato said. “I can’t think of anybody, at least in the water polo world, where it’s happened. It’s been great having her back. We have a very good relationship, and she’s grown up playing with all of these girls. I think it’s a fitting way for her to end her high school career, playing where she started and with all the girls she started with. She’s been kind of like a coach in the water, which is obviously very helpful for me. I think she’s having a great time and we’re all very happy to have her back.”
Aria Fischer, who didn’t play high school water polo last winter as she prepared for the Rio Olympics, returns to anchor a dangerous Laguna Beach team. She scored six goals on Tuesday as Laguna opened the season with a 17-3 win against El Toro.
First, she’ll compete for her country again, not in Brazil this time but in New Zealand. Fischer and Laguna junior goalie Thea Walsh are playing in the FINA Youth World Championships later this month, with Damato as an assistant coach on the team. The Laguna trio, along with Corona del Mar graduate Heidi Ritner, left Thursday night for a 17-day trip that will also include a seven-day training session in Australia with Hungary, Australia and Germany.
They will miss just one game for the Breakers, on Dec. 13 against Edison. Laguna will be at full strength again by Dec. 20, when it plays against Los Alamitos.
The Breakers at full strength appear to be dangerous, even after losing their leading scorer from last year, Sophie Leggett, as the sophomore transferred to Dos Pueblos. Fischer is one of three senior team captains, along with left-hander Bella Baldridge and Claire Sonne, who’s a Cal commit.
Baldridge also had a great game against El Toro, with two goals, six assists and five steals. Sonne is the name who might be unfamiliar to some, as she was ineligible last season following a transfer from Villa Park, but Damato expects great things.
“She’s a really good attacker, defends a little bit, a very good shooter,” he said. “She’s going to surprise a lot of people this year that don’t know her.”
Walsh steps into the starting goalkeeper spot after playing behind graduate Holly Parker, who’s now at USC, the last two years. Her accomplishments are already impressive, as she was MVP of the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics as a 14-and-under and also has been an All-American playing club water polo for SET.
“I think she’s the best goalie in the country in high school,” Damato said. “Obviously, I’m a little biased, but she’s really, really good.”
Junior attackers Sophia Lucas and Evan Tingler, both of whom started for the Breakers last year as freshmen, also return.
The Breakers aim to return to the top of Division 1. It’s the place they resided before last year, when two-time defending champion Laguna Beach lost to Foothill in the Division 1 semifinals. The Breakers also had their Orange County record 63-game winning streak snapped last year.
Dos Pueblos, which lost in the quarterfinals last season, appears to also be a contender to return to its winning ways. The Chargers won three straight Division 1 titles from 2009-11. This season, they have top young talent like Leggett as well as Abbi Hill, Ryann Neushul and Jewel Roemer. The latter three players are all on the USA Youth team that is going to New Zealand.
Throw defending Division 1 champion Orange Lutheran and finalist Foothill into the mix, along with teams like San Marcos and CdM, and it promises to be a challenging run to the title for any team.
“It’s a really deep year in Division 1,” Damato said. “As deep as I can ever remember, for sure. It’s just going to be very competitive, and that makes it fun for people to watch and follow. I think it’s kind of scary as a coach, because I don’t think you’ll get any easy games this year in the playoffs, but that’s also a fun challenge as well. It’s going to be a fun year.”
Rodman to debut for CdM girls
Corona del Mar High freshman forward Trinity Rodman will make her debut for CdM girls’ soccer this weekend, Coach Bryan Middleton said, as the Sea Kings play in the Westminster tournament.
Rodman is a very talented striker who is on the U.S. Under-14 Girls’ National Team. She missed the Sea Kings’ scrimmage against Estancia last week as she was training with the national team in Florida.
I’ve seen Rodman win on every level, from the Daily Pilot Cup with Kaiser Elementary to winning national titles in club with the SoCal Blues. It will be interesting to see what she will bring to the Sea Kings.
Yes, she is also the daughter of NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman.
