Sebastian Jacobs is the lone freshman on a Laguna Beach boys water polo team that features 12 seniors and a junior, but that didn’t stop him from playing a hero’s role in No. 3 Laguna Beach’s 13-12 nonleague win over No. 7 Dana Hills on Thursday at home.
After Jakob Colladay drew an exclusion, the Breakers went around the horn to the left side of the cage, where Jacobs scored the winner with 34 seconds left in the fourth period.
He then blocked a shot by Dana Hills’ Bennett Williams on the Dolphins’ final possession to seal the victory.
“That was my first game-winning goal and we knew everyone had to get back,” Jacobs said. “It was amazing. We’re all brothers here, we just went out there and sealed it.”
Neither team held more than a two-goal lead and both teams battled back from those deficits.
For the Dolphins, Kai Hanson – a freshman left-hander – had plenty of success from the right side and led all scorers with five goals.
Marko Asic was held without a goal until the fourth period.
“Their goal was to take Marko out of the game, every time he had the ball, there were two or three guys going to him,” Dolphins coach Matt Rosa said. “We needed other guys to step up and I thought they made some big plays. We just needed a couple more.”
Hanson gave the Dolphins a 7-5 lead with his fourth goal of the game.
Laguna Beach quickly closed the two-goal gap with three consecutive goals and took an 8-7 lead on a counterattack goal by Cade Baldridge with 3:15 remaining in the third period.
The two teams traded goals throughout the remainder of the second half. Asic tied the score at 12-12 with 1:08 remaining before Jacobs’ winner.
“I’d love to take credit for the substitution, but he’s an incredibly talented freshman and he came in and helped us secure that win today,” Breakers coach Ethan Damato said.
Early on, the game had the feel of a defensive battle as the Breakers led 2-1 heading into the second period.
Williams got the Dolphins going by scoring three of the team’s first five goals. Hanson also scored three in the first half as Dana Hills led 6-5 at the break.
“Win or lose it was a great game, it shows us what we’re capable of and we put ourselves in position to win, we just allowed a few too many goals in the fourth period,” Rosa said.
Jack Dodson led Laguna Beach (11-4, 1-0) with four goals, while Baldridge added three goals. Garrett Hartley finished with 11 saves.
Williams finished with three goals, while goalie Riley Zachary made 10 saves.
The game featured just four exclusions. The Dolphins (8-8, 3-0) scored on their lone opportunity, while the Breakers scored on 2 of 3.
“We still have a lot of growth to do, I thought we were inconsistent on both sides of the pool,” Damato said. “On the other side, we never gave up, I thought our guys showed a lot of resolve. It was a battle of momentum.”
Contact the writer: npercy@ocregister.com
