GOLETA – It was trilogy day at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions on Saturday.
For the third time in as many weeks, Laguna Beach’s No. 1 girls water polo team faced No. 2 Foothill. But the billing for the championship match wasn’t the only similarity.
The Breakers made sure the outcome also closely related to the previous versions.
Laguna Beach and tournament MVP Makenzie Fischer overcame a hot start by the Knights to control the middle periods, sprinting to a 9-5 victory at Dos Pueblos High and a third straight victory over Foothill.
Related: All-tourney team, final standings
The Knights (14-3) jumped to a 3-1 lead early in the second but Laguna Beach (16-0) responded with a 5-0 run to take control.
Laguna Beach never allowed Foothill closer than two goals in the second half to defend its title and extend its winning streak to 37.
“(Foothill) really put our backs against the wall, and I thought our girls did a great job of putting their backs together and fighting out of it,” Laguna Beach coach Ethan Damato said.
“We’ve got a great group of girls. They’re very mentally tough.”
Foothill, which made its first finals appearance since winning the event in 2007, extended its strong shooting from the semifinals. Julia Sellers made it 3-1 by hitting a power-play shot from the short wing off the post and goalie Holly Parker (nine saves) with 4:48 left in the second.
And with goalie Kenzi Snyder (nine saves) seemingly locked-in after a strong opening frame, the Knights appeared formidable.
But Fischer and Laguna Beach roared back later in the second period.
The national team player scored off a drive on an after-goal play, fed Haley Evans for a power-play strike coming out of a timeout and scored on a redirect off the counterattack with 12 seconds left thanks to cross-pool pass by Bella Baldridge. The counterattack strike gave Laguna Beach its first lead, 4-3.
After a strong start to the third, Laguna Beach closed the period with a power-play strike by Aria Fischer off a pass by her sister with one second left for a 7-4 lead.
“We were really fired up and didn’t want to lose,” said Aria Fischer, who scored three goals to share high-goal honors with Makenzie. “(Foothill) is a great team.”
Makenzie Fischer added four assists, two field blocks and guarded resurgent center Cana Manzella, who netted three goals in a 6-2 victory against Newport Harbor in the semifinals.
Manzella finished with one goal in the final.
“She was phenomenal,” Damato said of Makenzie’s defense. “Cana is a great center.”
Laguna Beach also used to Aria Fischer and Mia Salvini to defend Manzella at 2 meters.
Baldridge netted two power-play goals in the second half, helping the Breakers finish 5 for 11. Foothill went 3 for 5 with the extra attacker.
In the semifinals, Laguna Beach scored the first three goals and ended on a 4-0 run en route to a 9-2 victory against Corona del Mar.
“We had a bunch of runs this weekend,” Damato said. “We played great this weekend.”
Evans, Parker and Makenzie Fischer shined on defense in the semifinals. Evans recorded two field blocks against the power-play while Parker made four of her nine saves against the speciality unit. CdM finished 1 for 7 with the extra attacker.
Makenzie set the tone with a field block against fellow national teamer Maddie Musselman in the first period. Makenzie also drew two exclusions against Musselman but Musselman recorded three steals while guarding the 2014 county player of the year.
“It was awesome,” CdM coach Ross Sinclair said of the Makenzie Fischer-Musselman duel. “They’re competitors.”
In the third-place match:
No. 3 Newport Harbor 4, No. 4 Corona del Mar 3: Kate Pipkin scored off a penalty shot drawn by Chanel Schilling with 3:11 left and Carlee Kapana made 14 saves as the Sailors (12-4) beat the Sea Kings (9-5) for the third consecutive time.
Kapana’s tally included a penalty shot save against Musselman in the first and a breakaway stop against the junior in the third. Musselman nearly got a chance for a revenge as she drew a foul outside 5 meters in the closing seconds but she was whistled for moving forward on her free shot.
“Kapana makes a lot of people hesitant,” Newport Harbor coach Bill Barnett said. “She’s a tremendous factor, not only stopping the ball but intimidating the other team to take poor shots.”
Musselman scored from center in third and finished with an assist, three steals and a field block.
Newport Harbor’s Rachel Whitelegge also had a strong defensive game with four steals and two field blocks to go along with a goal on the power-play. After going 0 for 5 on extra in the semifinals, the Sailors finished 2 for 3 against their Back Bay rival.
In the fifth-place match:
Orange Lutheran 12, San Clemente 8: Myna Simmons scored four goals to help pace the Lancers (17-3), who also edged Division 1 rival San Marcos, 7-6, earlier in the fifth-place semifinals. Orange Lutheran led San Marcos, ranked fifth in Division 1, 6-1 during one stretch.
In the seventh-place match, San Marcos defeated Channel League rival Dos Pueblos, 10-6, the same score of their first match in the Channel League.
El Toro claimed the consolation title to a cap a run that should rank the Chargers No. 1 in Division 2 next week.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
