CROSS COUNTRY
Laguna traveled to O’ahu last week to compete in the twenty-fourth Iolani Invitational held on Kualoa Ranch. Anoua Carrie was the top runner for the girls’ varsity with a 20:42 time for the 5,000-meter course. On the boys’ side, Laguna’s best time was Christopher Drews with a 17:08.29 in the Varsity Division.
Rankings: Girls XCC is tenth this week in the SSCIF D-4 poll. Woodbridge Invite on Sept. 15 will be the squad’s first major Southern California event. For more information, check out www.lbxc.org for the girls’ team and lagunabeachcrosscountry.com for boys.
FOOTBALL (2-2)
Maroon Monsoons Swamp Capo Valley Christian 24-17
Breakers defeated the host Eagles (2-1) last Friday night at the Aliso Niguel High School Stadium in a contest played under typical fall “Hawaii” conditions: warm, humid and rainy.
Defensively, Laguna did very well in frustrating the Eagles’ offense with their first two scores only aided by key penalties on Laguna that kept their drives alive. Capo’s last score came in the closing seconds of the game on a fourth and 14 pass play.
The game opened with Laguna marching 72 yards in ten plays before stalling on four downs in the “red zone.” Capo took the ball over on downs but suffered a similar fate after 12 plays that carried into the second quarter.
Laguna’s next possession looked promising but ended on an interception but Capo was then completely smothered in three plays forcing a punt. Breakers then marched 62 yards in eight plays but settled for a field goal with just under two minutes remaining in the half. The Eagles were efficient in the final minute aided by a big Laguna penalty and a 29-yard pass play to set up the tying field goal as time expired in the half.
Breakers took control of the contest right from the start of the second half stopping the initial Capo possession for minus 6 yards and then scoring on a 4-play drive capped by a great Ethan Das to Jackson Rodrigues pass play. Eagles tied the game on an eight-play drive but Laguna took the lead for good on a bomb to Ryner Swanson near the end of the quarter. Breakers then stopped Capo on five plays and Jackson Rodriguez returned the punt 30-yards to set up Laguna’s final score on a simple 3-play drive. Breakers were able to frustrate Capo the remaining time in the quarter until the late score letdown in the final minute.
This Friday, Sept. 16, Laguna takes on Crean Lutheran (3-0) at Irvine High School. The Saints are slight favorites in the encounter won last year by Laguna 48-26. The host school is a member of the Empire League (Tustin, Cypress, Kennedy, Valencia, Pacifica) and will be the toughest of the remaining regular season games.
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Rogers 23-101, Rodriguez 1-9, Kanter 1-(2), Das 2-(24)
Passing: Ethan Das: 20-14-1, 223 yards 2 TDS 186.7 rating
Receiving: Swanson 7-121, Freeman 3-31, Rogers 2-30, Rodriguez 2-41
Kick-off Returns: Rodriguez 1-2, Rogers 1-23
Punt Returns: Rodriguez 2-32
GIRLS GOLF (0-1, 2-1)
Laguna defeated Costa Mesa 237-243 in a non-league match on September 8 at Ben Browns. The Mustang’s Sydney Ngo was low scorer with a 31 while Laguna’s top golfer was Julianna Franconi-Krychman with a 42.
Breakers will return to action this past week at Fountain Valley on September 13 and Edison on September 15.
BOYS SAND VOLLEYBALL
The ninth season for the sport started this past Tuesday with Laguna hosting Capo Valley Christian on Main Beach. Results next week.
GIRLS TENNIS (0-0, 1-1)
Laguna suffered a sound 18-0 trashing by Aliso Niguel on Sept. 8 and traveled to Dana Hills this past Tuesday. Results to come next week.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL (9-11)
Breakers stumbled this past week and now need a strong finish to make the playoffs. Last Thursday, Sept. 8 they lost a tough 20-25, 23-25, 26-24, 23-25 decision at Edison despite 32 kills from Eva Travis and 17 from Kyra Zaengle. The following day in the Mohs Orange County Tournament at Huntington Beach High School, Laguna lost to # 2 Marymount 21-25, 10-25 followed by a similar defeat 17-25, 18-25 by San Clemente.
In the playoffs, on Saturday they were missing kill leader Eva Travis and went 1-3 defeating No Cal’s James Logan 21-25, 25-15, 15-9 but lost to J Serra, Corona del Mar and Edison.
This week, Laguna hosted Marina in a non-league match on Wednesday then traveled to Huntington Beach to open Sunset Surf League play at SSCIF #6 Huntington Beach. Next week the first half of league play concludes at home with Newport Harbor on Sept. 20 and Los Alamitos on Sept. 22.
Boys Water Polo (3-2)
The fifty-ninth season of Boys Water Polo at Laguna got underway earlier this month under new coach Camron Hauer, a 2013 Laguna grad. The season opened with a non-league match on Sept. 8 at Westlake High School in Westlake Village. Sai Bassett’s three straight goals mid-way through the first period erased an early Warrior lead as the Breakers took a 13-7 victory from the #3 SSCIF ranked D-2 squad. Also scoring for Laguna were Dylan Katz, Brady Bumgardner, Eli Taub, Cade Anderton (3), Diego Audebert (2), and Jack Bryan.
This past weekend, Laguna finished seventh in the competitive Santa Barbara invitational won by JSerra with a 10-5 win over Mater Dei.
Breakers opened the tournament with an 8-5 win over No Cal’s Bellarmine Prep off three goals by Anderton and two from Audebert. The Bells took a 4-3 lead late in the third period but a score by Bassett tied the game followed by two quick goals by Katz, and Anderton to ice the contest as the third period ended.
In the Friday evening game, Laguna lost to Mater Dei 11-7 and then dropped a 15-10 contest to Huntington Beach Saturday morning.
In the seventh-place game on Saturday afternoon at the Dos Pueblos High School pool, Laguna rallied with a 5-0 fourth quarter to defeat Santa Margarita 12-8. Final period scores came twice from Sai Bassett, then two straight from Cade Anderton, and finally a lone Dylan Katz goal with 1:36 remaining in the game.
Up Next: The Annual 32-team South Coast Tournament with Laguna seeded fourteen opening play on Sept. 15 with a tough #13 ranked Alta Loma squad at the new pool at Edison High School. If the Breakers win they would probably face Mater Dei later that day.
Football, girls volleyball, and water polo scores and rosters can be found on the Max Preps website.
