Layseca sets scoring record in Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy water polo loss to Marymount
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LA CAÑADA — Just three goals separated Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy senior Bree Layseca from the water polo program’s top spot on the all-time goal-scoring list.
The Santa Clara University-bound senior felt every bit nervous entering the Tologs’ Mission League match against Marymount at home on Thursday.
By the end of the first quarter, Layseca had tied the record after her pair of goals put the Tologs within one score of the Sailors.
Then, with 12 seconds left in the half, Layseca scored her record-breaking strike after the visitors scored six straight in the second quarter.
Layseca scored four more times in the second half to bring her career total to 115, but her Flintridge Sacred Heartsquad fell to Marymount, 13-10.
“Marymount is a great team and three goals away is close, but still far enough,” Layseca said. “I just went out there and did what I had to do. I have a great team behind me, so it wasn’t that nerve-wracking.”
The Tologs’ previous record of 110 career goals was set in 2013 by Hannah Walleck, and with one league match remaining, Layseca will get the opportunity to add to her total.
“My team was really rooting for me and that was really nice,” Layseca said. “I felt like the support seriously helped a lot. My friends came out to see me and the support from the team and the great environment helped.”
Layseca finished with seven goals and senior Franny Christensen added two. Goalkeeper Ellie Lund recorded 14 saves for the Tologs (9-12, 1-4 in league).
“You know, I felt like they were rooting for her, too,” said Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy coach Carlos Ponce of Layseca and Marymount. “She’s a four-year player, three years on varsity. The amount of work she puts in, sometimes by herself here or just me and her. Sometimes it’s just her shooting and I’m sitting on a chair watching. The amount of effort is just outstanding.”
The Sailors (15-9, 4-1) opened up the match with goals from Sophie Wazzan and Reagan Whitney for a 2-0 lead with less than a minute gone.
Layseca pulled one back for the Tologs at 6:01 in the first before Whitney scored to make it a 3-1 Marymount lead.
With 2:24 left in the opening quarter, Layseca scored to tie the all-time scoring record as the Tologs cut the Marymount advantage to 3-2.
Whitney scored three times, as the Sailors registered six straight goals for a 9-2 lead with 54 seconds left in the second.
With 12 seconds left in the half, Layseca scored her third goal to break the school record and make it a six-goal margin at the break.
“When you give them any space, they’re going to shoot and make you regret it,” said Ponce, whose Tologs turned a six-goal deficit to a one-goal deficit in the third quarter. “What we did was focus more defensively with hands up, committing to your girl and not allowing them any space. When that happened, they had to take tougher shots, which some of them still did well with, but what it does is give us drops to help us in transition.”
Christensen opened the second half with a pair of goals to pull the Tologs to within 9-5 at 5:04 in the third quarter.
Layseca scored three more in the period to cut the Tologs’ deficit to 9-8 at the 1:12 mark of the third. But a long-distance strike from Wazzan made it a two-goal Sailors lead at the end of the quarter.
“We just had to tell the girls to hone in, settle in, play their system and put their shots away,” Marymount coach Nick Amstutz said. “We needed to just really focus on what we worked on in training and conditioning. It’s hard and it’s a narrow pool, so it’s even more so the reason to shoot and work towards better shots.”
A pair of goals from Whitney and another from Lizzie Rielly put Marymount ahead, 13-8, with 4:30 remaining.
A goal from Tologs’ sophomore Riley Peterson cut the Marymount lead to four before Layseca finished the scoring with a strike with 1:25 left.
