Laguna girls wins two games at Speedo Cup

The Laguna Beach Age Group Water Polo girls’ under-14 teams went

2-1-1 at last weekend’s Speedo Cup qualifying tournament in Laguna

Beach.

Laguna competed in a bracket that included Newport Beach, Los

Alamitos, TRAP, SoCal and OC Split.

OC Split won the tournament and qualified to compete at the Speedo

Cup finals scheduled for mid-November in St. Louis, Mo.

Laguna Beach 2, Newport Beach 2

Laguna, which couldn’t capitalize on some early scoring

opportunities, finally crashed the scoreboard when Jesse Holechek

drilled in a goal three minutes into the game.

The defense, keyed by Edy Manetta’s two saves, held that lead

until the third quarter.

In the third, Yoshi Andersen scored to give Laguna a two-goal

cushion, but Newport retaliated with a goal 30 second later to make

it 2-1.

That score carried over into the fourth quarter. Big defensive

performances by Kacky Brown, Lexy Ross, Jessica Shusko and Riley

Duncan kept Newport in check, but Newport was able to net the tying

goal with two seconds left on the game clock.

Laguna 9, TRAP 2

Laguna jumped out to a 3-0 first quarter lead and cruised to

victory.

Riley Duncan, Hannah Lawson and Jesse Holechek each scored twice,

and Kacky Brown and Yoshi Andersen each scored once for Laguna.

The seven-goal victory allowed Laguna to finish first in its

bracket based on goal differential and meet Los Alamitos for the

right to advance to the tournament’s championship game.

Los Alamitos 4, Laguna Beach 3

Laguna jumped out to a 2-0 lead in this spirited contest, but Los

Alamitos scored four consecutive goals and then held on for the win.

Yoshi Andersen scored off a feed from Riley Duncan following a

kick out. In the second period, Laguna scored on a set play when

Jessica Shusko was fouled -- Jesse Holechek found a wide-open Kelsey

Thornton for the second goal of the game.

Los Alamitos scored three straight in the third quarter, then

added one goal in the fourth quarter to up its lead to 4-2.

Laguna, which missed a scoring opportunity late at the end of the

third quarter that would have tied the score at 3-3, added a goal

just before the final horn when Edy Manetta scored for from mid-pool.

Laguna Beach 5, Newport Beach 1

Lexy Ross scored on her first three shot attempts and Jesse

Holechek and Jessica Shusko each scored once as Laguna defeated

Newport Beach for the second time in tournament play.