Laguna tries to bounce back
The saying, “All good things must come to an end,” well, it finally applied to the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo program.
On Jan. 14 in Goleta, the program had its Orange Country-record 63-game winning streak ended by Dos Pueblos. The Chargers, then ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division 1, pulled away in the fourth quarter to stun the top-ranked team in the division by an 11-7 score.
“We fell behind early and just could never quite get complete control of the game,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “Hats off to Dos Pueblos, they played well and took advantage of our mistakes. We did show a lot of heart coming back in the third [quarter], pulling within one [8-7] but in the fourth quarter, things didn’t go our way, and Dos Pueblos’ early leads [4-1, 7-3] seemed to be too much to overcome.”
Despite the loss, the streak was a good thing for Laguna. Incredible, in fact. The 63 consecutive victories, many of the lopsided variety, not only is an all-time county best, it also ranks third all-time in the CIF Southern Section. During the streak, which started Jan. 15, 2014, the program won three major prep tournament titles multiple times (three Holiday Cup, two Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, two Irvine Southern California Championships) as well as Orange Coast League championships during the regular season, and back-to-back CIF-SS Division 1 crowns (2014, 2015).
Bell Gardens holds the Southern Section record for consecutive victories (85), and Dos Pueblos was able to hold on to the No. 2 spot (68 games) by fending off Laguna’s challenge to that spot.
“We didn’t have our best game on [Jan. 14] and lost a game,” Damato said. “It felt like a lot more than that, but it was just one loss, one game. It’s not about the past, it’s about this year’s journey and what this year’s team needs to do to become our greatest self. I know these girls and I know we will be stronger because of what we have gone through.”
One day after the streak ended, Laguna went into the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions Jan. 15, looking to claim a three-peat tourney title. The Breakers began play by defeating both Santa Margarita, 7-2, and host Santa Barbara (No. 7 Division 1), 8-7, but were edged in the semifinals Saturday, 8-7, by Orange Lutheran (No. 4 Division 1) The Breakers came back later in the day to win the third-place game with a strong performance against Santa Barbara San Marcos (No. 2, Division 1) that resulted in a 10-3 win.
In the third-place game, junior left-handed attacker Bella Baldridge had three goals and an assist, senior attacker Haley Evans (two assists), freshman attacker Sophie Leggett (assist) and sophomore attacker Evan Tingler all scored twice, and sophomore attacker Sophia Lucas (two assists) scored once. Senior goalie Holly Parker had 15 saves.
Baldridge and Parker were named to the all-tournament team.
“We had a tough weekend in Santa Barbara and suffered a couple hard losses,” Damato said. “We had a great final game against San Marcos and in my opinion, showed a lot of character playing the way we did to earn third place.
“I am proud of the team and think we will be better because of this experience. “
Orange Lutheran won the tournament, defeating Foothill, 8-7, in Saturday’s title game.
The results last week shook up this week’s CIF-SS Division 1 rankings: Laguna was bumped from the top spot for the first time in two years, the spot now occupied by Orange Lutheran.
The Breakers fell only one spot, to No. 2, and they continued their mastery in Orange Coast League competition and streaked to another big win Wednesday by dominating visiting Costa Mesa, 21-1. Evans topped all scorers with four goals and assisted four scores. Senior attacker Natalie Selin scored three goals and Baldridge and Lucas both had one goal and five assists.
The win put the Breakers at 2-0 in league and 15-2 overall.
The Breakers are back in the pool for game action Saturday. They go to Corona del Mar for a 10 a.m. matchup against the sixth-ranked Sea Kings. The Breakers won the first meeting this year between the teams, a 7-0 semifinal shutout victory Dec. 30 at the Holiday Cup.
Next week, Laguna visits Saddleback for a 3:15 p.m. league game Wednesday.
