Boys’ Water Polo: Breakers fall short against Capo Valley

IRVINE — For the second time in two weeks, Laguna Beach and Capistrano Valley engaged in a tight Division 3 boys’ water polo battle. On this occasion, the ramification to this outcome was greater than the Nov. 5 nonleague meeting between the teams.

Capo Valley jumped out to an early lead but Laguna fought back to twice take a one-goal lead, only to see the third-seeded Cougars score the winning goal with four seconds remaining. Their 9-8 victory in the CIF Southern Section semifinals at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine eliminated the second-seeded and defending Division 3 champions and put the Cougars in a division final for the first time since 1991.

Capo Valley, making its third overall trip to a division final, will face top-seeded Murrieta Valley in Saturday’s 7 p.m. title game.

The Cougars led by no more than two goals Wednesday; the Breakers could not gain separation by more than a single goal.

In the teams’ Nov. 5 nonleague game, played in the final week of the regular season, the score was knotted at 6-6 heading into the fourth quarter when visiting Laguna shut out the Cougars down the stretch and emerged with a 9-6 victory.

The semifinal matchup had a similar feeling.

“I’m bummed for the boys right now,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said after the game. “I thought [Capo Valley] played well and we didn’t play our best game tonight. We needed that to get back to the final.”

Capo Valley (20-11) held its final two-goal lead, 8-6, with 5:23 remaining in the game. Laguna (17-14) clawed back, first drawing to within 8-7 when defender Sebastian Jacobs skipped in a shot from the right side with 4:53 to go. Jacobs also brought the Breakers even when his lob shot from the opposite side sailed over the head of Cougars goalie Aiden Sandhu (13 saves) and landed into the back right corner of the net with 23 seconds on the clock.

Capo Valley worked for the final shot which was taken by attacker Skyler Stanton. His shot skipped and went high just inside the Laguna goal and into the left side corner of the net.

Laguna got off one frantic final shot, but Jacobs’ half-pool heave sailed over the Capo Valley cage. The Cougars got the ball back, and ran out the final second.

“We’re moving on to play for a championship,” said a happy Capo Valley Coach Steve Yancey whose then-San Clemente team defeated Capo Valley in its last title game appearance in 1991. “I really have to pat our goalie [Sandhu] on the back. He’s a junior, and he really came through for us tonight.

“We preach about playing a two-minute drill type of game, and that’s how we started and ended the game. This is a good statement for our boys in that they have followed direction and training, and are experiencing success from that.”

Capo Valley, champion of the South Coast League, took a 2-0 less than three minutes into the game. The score was tied, 3-3, after one quarter and 5-5 at the half which ended with the teams going scoreless over the final 2:49 of the half.

The Cougars held a 7-6 lead going into the final seven minutes.

In the first quarter, utility Jakob Colladay scored twice and attacker Judge Washer once for Laguna. The Orange Coast League champion Breakers took their first lead (4-3) at the 5:17 mark of the second quarter when Colladay converted his second penalty, his third score of the first half.

Colladay led all scorers with a game-best three goals.

Laguna goalie Gordon Pike had a big game and two of his nine saves were big stops at the outset of the second half. Twice Pike blocked shot attempts by Capo Valley with the Cougars holding a six-on-five advantage, and he came up with his third block of the third quarter with 2:59 left to preserve a tie score (5-5).

The Breakers took their final lead on a goal by attacker Camden Benson with two minutes left in the quarter.

“We’ve come a long way this year,” Damato said. “It was tough, at times, this year and we took some lumps, but we played our best polo when it counted. Unfortunately, we didn’t play our best tonight.”

Laguna’s repeat trip to the Division 3 semifinals was preceded by one-sided playoff victories over Chaparral (18-9) and Yorba Linda (20-8).