NEWPORT BEACH – Laguna Beach’s girls water polo team scored eight consecutive goals Friday in the finals of the Holiday Cup before Olympic gold medalist Aria Fischer extended the match-opening barrage to nine.
That’s how daunting of a challenge top-ranked Laguna Beach presented No. 2 Orange Lutheran at Newport Harbor.
The Breakers mixed a balanced attack with their world-class center en route to a 14-2 victory against the reigning CIF Division 1 champion and a record fourth consecutive Holiday Cup title.
They also delivered a cohesive effort against No. 3 Mater Dei in the semifinals, posting a 17-3 victory.
“I’m just stoked,” said Laguna Beach coach Ethan Damato, whose team improved to 8-0. “It’s scary to think that we still have a lot of things that we can do better. I think the girls feel that way and I think we’re all pretty happy right now, but we’re definitely not satisfied.”
Damato might have to watch the video a few times before he spots many flaws from the finals. Claire Sonne and Bella Baldridge helped fuel the early outburst and finished with four goals apiece.
Fischer, who helped the U.S. women’s team claim gold at the Rio Olympics, assisted Baldridge’s first goal less than a minute into the first and fed a power-play strike by Alex Peros later in the period.
Sonne had her four goals in a breakout performance before Fischer scored from center to give Laguna Beach a 9-0 lead with 2:31 left in the first half.
“Everyone is just really clicking,” said the Stanford-bound Fischer, who tallied three goals, three assists, two steals and three drawn exclusions.
“Almost all of us started playing at Laguna age-group, so I think we have just a lot of built-up chemistry together.”
Laguna Beach also received one goal apiece from Sophia Lucas and Isabel Riches to finish with six players in the scoring column. Eight different players scored for Laguna Beach in the semifinals.
The chemistry extended to the power play. The Breakers went 6 for 9 in the finals and 6 for 7 in the semifinals.
First-year starting goalie Thea Walsh posted three saves and three steals to anchor Laguna Beach’s defense. The junior had 13 saves in the semifinals.
Orange Lutheran (9-1) beat Corona del Mar, 11-6, in the semifinals but struggled with foul trouble in having its 26-match winning streak snapped. Myna and Mollie Simmons fouled out in the third period. Alyse Tyler scored off a pass from Brooke Hourigan on the power-play with 3:50 left in the third to snap the shutout and make the score 11-1.
“We definitely have a lot to work on,” Myna Simmons said. “It’s that counterattack that killed us.”
In the third-place match:
No. 3 Mater Dei 8, No. 4 Corona del Mar 7: Hannah Constandse made a steal at center in the closing seconds as the Monarchs (6-1) held off the Sea Kings. Sophomore Maisie McPherson gave Mater Dei an 8-6 lead on a perimeter strike with 3:11 left in the fourth. Chloe Harbilas scored three of her five goals in the fourth for Corona del Mar.
Contact the writer: dalbano@scng.com
