Laguna Beach’s boys water polo program is loaded with tradition but the Breakers were still a difficult team to rank in the preseason.
Why? The defending CIF-SS Division 3 champion returns only player from last season.
But after a couple weeks of action, Laguna Beach has shown it belongs with the best.
Jakob Colladay, the Breakers’ top player and lone mainstay from 2014, Sebastian Jacobs and Jeff Rubino combined for 10 goals to lead No. 10 Laguna Beach past No. 9 Villa Park, 12-7, Thursday in the first round of the South Coast Tournament at Newport Harbor.
Jacobs netted four while Colladay and Rubino each had three.
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Laguna Beach goalie Gordon Pike added 11 saves, including one against a penalty shot in the second period.
And while the Laguna Beach fell in the second round to top seed and defending tournament champion Mater Dei, 18-7, it secured a quality victory against Villa Park in a high-profile opening match.
“I think we’re right in the mix with that (No. 7) through 10 group and think we can beat each other on any day,” Laguna Beach coach Ethan Damato said. “I’m stoked about today. It was a good win. Lots of things that we did well and lot more to improve on.”
Laguna Beach’s defense was among the positives. The Breakers forced Villa Park to dump the ball on possessions at least two and forced at least three shot clock violations, including two in the first period.
The Spartans also didn’t score for the first 8 minutes, 9 seconds.
“I thought Gordon did a great job,” Damato said of the junior. “I was very pleased with our defense overall as a team. … We did a nice job defending what they do.”
Troy Furniss paced Villa Park with three goals. The Spartans suffered a blow in the second quarter when Dash Farr fouled out.
Laguna Beach led at halftime, 4-3, but separated on a direct shot strike by Colladay and counterattack by Jacobs in the first 1 1/2 of the third.
In other first round games:
Capistrano Valley 12, Santa Barbara 11: Austin Sechrest, coming off of a nine-goal effort against Sea View League rival Trabuco Hills on Wednesday, scored with eight seconds left at Corona del Mar to lift the Cougars. The senior and Skyler Stanton each scored five goals apiece for the Cougars, who fell in the second round to Huntington Beach, 17-2.
Mater Dei 11, Garces Memorial of Bakersfield 5: The 32-seeded team in the tournament trailed the Monarchs, 7-4, after three periods in eye-catching score at Newport Harbor. Keegan Coleman, a JV call-up for the Monarchs, scored three goals.
In the second round:
Dana Hills 9, Agoura 4: Bennett Williams scored four goals and Riley Zachary made 13 saves to lead Dolphins at Foothill. The Knights will play host to Dana Hills in a Friday 6 p.m. quarterfinal that pits the top-two ranked teams in Division 2.
Foothill 25, Los Alamitos 8: Bobby Lee scored six goals to lead the host Knights (6-0).
The Bishop’s of La Jolla 11, Orange Lutheran 9: The Bishop’s led, 6-3, at halftime and held on for the upset of the tournament’s overall sixth seed. Orange Lutheran reached the semifinals last season but falls to the 9-16 bracket. The Bishop’s will take on Loyola at Santa Margarita in another 6 p.m. quarterfinal.
Loyola 14, Santa Margarita 10: Chasen Petersen scored four goals and goalie Noah Hodge made nine saves for the host Eagles, who were tied with the Cubs, 6-6, early in the second half.
Huntington Beach 17, Capo Valley 2: Quinten Osborne and James Vlachonassios each scored four goals to the Oilers at CdM. No. 4 seed Huntington Beach takes fifth-seeded and host Corona del Mar in the quarterfinals Friday at 6 p.m.
Corona del Mar 12, El Toro 5: Matt Moran made 16 saves to lead the host Sea Kings in a physical game.
Long Beach Wilson 10, Newport Harbor 8: The eighth-ranked Sailors fell to the visiting No. 9 Bruins, who advance to face Mater Dei in Friday’s 6 p.m. quarterfinal at Newport Harbor.
