Breakers still looking for test

Things went pretty much as expected Wednesday for the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team.

The Breakers bolted to an 8-0 first-quarter lead against host Godinez and went on to take an 18-2 win from the Grizzlies in an Orange Coast League game played at Santa Ana Valley High.

Natasha Schulman and Melena Masson both scored three goals to lead 11 Breakers who scored. Annika Dries, Lida DeGroote and Lexie Ross all scored twice and single goals were tallied by Riley Duncan, Taylor Dodson, Yoshi Andersen, Jessie Holechek, Brenda Josephs and Marley Donnenfeld.

Etianne Manetta had four saves and Sarah Zuziak, who has been out with an injury but is now back in the line-up, had three saves in the second half.

“Godinez is a first-year varsity team and they are doing a good job over there,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “We pretty much expected to win this game and I thought we maintained a good flow.”

Laguna, which improved to 2-0 in league and 17-2 overall, faces a key Division II battle today when it hosts third-ranked Palos Verdes in nonleague play.

Last Friday, the Breakers also played a top-10 team in Villa Park but had no problem with the Spartans and claimed a 17-4 victory at home. Laguna led 5-1 after one quarter then shutout the No. 9 Spartans in the second quarter to open up an 11-1 halftime lead.

Dries’ four goals led the way and Ross scored three times. Manetta and Zuziak combined for 10 saves.

“We were excited to play them,” Damato said. “We played really well and I think we had too much speed for them.”

Laguna already owns a big win over Palos Verdes this year.

The Breakers won a Dec. 13 meeting, 12-7, in the semifinal round of the Villa Park Classic.

Next week, the Breakers play a 3:15 p.m. nonleague game Tuesday at Mater Dei. The Monarchs are ranked No. 8 in Division I. Next Thursday, they begin play in the 32-team So Cal Championships tournament.