Laguna Beach falls to old nemesis in final

Missing four key players from its roster did little to slow the Laguna Beach High girls’ water polo team from earning a second-place finish last weekend at the Villa Park Summer Tournament.

Playing without four starters “” and, on some occasions, a fifth player “” Laguna used a strong effort from the frosh/soph core of its players and received senior leadership from Taylor Dodson and Maddy Duncan.

Assistant Coach Trevor Lyle led the team through to the finals.

Laguna 10, Regency 6: Laguna opened the tournament June 27 with a four-goal win over Regency, a Mater Dei-based squad.

The teams were tied at 6 heading into the fourth quarter but goals by Jesse Holechek, Yoshi Andersen, Lida De Groote and Riley Duncan, combined with good defense, powered Laguna to the win.

Laguna 13, Canyon 2; Laguna 13, Villa Park 3: In Saturday action at Canyon High in Anaheim, Laguna blew out host Canyon and then rival Villa Park. The two wins set up a quarterfinal round clash against another long-standing rival, Corona del Mar.

Laguna 6, Corona del Mar 5: After Taylor Dodson won the opening sprint that led to a goal by Jesse Holechek and an early 1-0 advantage, Laguna was on its way to a close win over Corona del Mar.

The speed of Dodson and Andersen created offensive opportunities while clamping down around goalie Edy Manetta. Dodson, Jessica Shusko and Melena Mason took turns playing two-meter defense.

Coach Lyle’s game strategy worked and Laguna sprinted to a 4-1 halftime advantage behind two goals each from Shusko and Dodson. In the opening half, Manetta turned away several Corona del Mar volleys and Kaitlyn Waidley contributed several strong minutes of play at both ends of the pool.

Despite falling behind three goals by the half, Corona del Mar battled back to score three times in the third quarter to forge a 4-4 tie, then scored early in the fourth quarter to take its first lead. Laguna bounced back to play better defensively and rallied to score the final two goals of the match to win it.

On one key sequence in the final quarter, Shusko created a kick-out and Holechek scored midway through the quarter to knot the score at 5. Holechek then found the goal on a laser shot from out front, the score putting Laguna back on top with two minutes to go.

Laguna’s defense came up with two big stands, and Manetta had a key save in the closing minutes to preserve the lead.

Newport Beach 14, Laguna 7: In the tournament final Sunday, Laguna’s defense was off in losing to Newport Beach.

The score was tied at 1 early in the first quarter, but Newport scored four more times before the quarter ended to take control at 5-1.

Laguna, though, pulled to within three goals on several occasions in the contest but couldn’t get closer.