Girls Water Polo Wins CIF with Golden Goal
For the first time in the sport’s 22 years of playoffs, the top water polo division was decided in sudden-death overtime. Laguna captured their fourth title in six years with just 14 seconds remaining in the third overtime on an eight-meter shot by Tea Poljak off a pass from Quinn Winter. Poljak, the strongest shot on the Laguna team, had gone 0-7 for the evening, but her strike was straight into the cage past a surprised Maya Avital, the junior goalkeeper for the Sea Queens.
In the game of water polo, the presence of top goalies can intimidate their opponents and cause a real lack of shooting confidence. The Breakers struggled in their shot selection (8 for 29 prior to the golden goal). The three previous meetings this season had been unusually tough for the Breakers, with two wins by a single goal. The Breakers carried a 14-game (five years) win streak over CdM entering the contest.
Breakers struck first as Morgan Van Alphen scored off a pass by Molly Renner midway in the initial quarter. Corona scored in the closing seconds on a strong score of their own to tie the contest. The second period was all Sea Queens, as three times they were able to score on power plays pushing the lead to 4-1 into the intermission.
Laguna didn’t fold and came out on fire as Emma Lineback earned exclusion call to quickly energize the squad. Avital blocked the shot attempt, but Corona quickly turned the ball over on a foul and the Breakers wasted little time as Bryn Gioffred ignited the comeback with a solid score at the 5:35 mark. Less than 30 seconds later, the squad was back on attack with Emma Lineback taking a pass directly from goalie Quinn Winter to add another score. Lineback scored again at the 1:29 mark off a great pass by Morgan Van Alphen and the contest was tied. In the final seconds of the third period, Corona was awarded a goal after it appeared the officials had stopped play on an exclusion call yet allowed a Corona shot to count to a perplexed scorer’s table and Laguna coaching staff. It didn’t take long into the final period for Lineback to find the cage again as she scored off a Nicole Struss toss to lock the game at 5-5. Both teams had six more tries in regulation to score and came very close to doing so.
In the first of the two mandatory three-minute overtime periods, Breakers scored at 2:28 on a power play when Molly Renner picked up a rebounding shot from Emma Lineback and scored. On the ensuing possession, Corona got a gift as they were awarded a 5-meter penalty shot to tie the game at six with 1:41 remaining. Breakers came right down the pool with Struss scoring off a Claire Kelly pass, but the lead didn’t last as Corona del Mar scored on a rebound shot as time expired.
The second overtime started with Laguna taking the sprint (Breakers won all eight that evening) but were unable to get a shot on their first two possessions. Corona was awarded a power play midway in the period and were able to take the lead. Breakers got an opportunity of their own on their next possession and Claire Kelly found the cage off a Tea Poljak pass. Corona tried to respond, but a steal by Molly Renner gave Laguna the last shot which was unsuccessful.
After the two mandatory overtime periods, the game continues with additional three-minute overtime periods until someone scores. Usually this amounts to four tries for each team before a break. The overtime periods start with a sprint for possession like the regular quarters so some teams can wear out
Up Next: Laguna is now 174-8 over the past six seasons and will try to capture the second annual state regional tournament this weekend at Segerstrom. Laguna opens with San Clemente (17-14) at 4:20 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22. Breakers defeated the Tritons 14-9 back on Dec. 7. Should Laguna prevail, they would see the winner of Foothill vs. Bishop on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 1:40 p.m. The title game will be that evening at 7 p.m. The teams on the other side of the bracket include Corona del Mar, Orange Lutheran and Santa Margarita. Last year, Mater Dei defeated Foothill 9-2 for the D1 title, and Laguna defeated Los Alamitos 11-6 for the honors.
Laguna Southern Section CIF Titles: Breakers have now won 46 titles, including 13 in the highest division. The sports program has also won six State Regional Southern California titles and three state crowns. This was the girls water polo’s sixth section title.
Spring Sports Update
Baseball (4-1)
Breakers continue to feast on their Newport Elks tournament run with a pair of big wins. On Saturday, Feb. 16, they blasted Whittier 10-4 at Laguna as they collected 13 hits, two home runs (Cutter Clawson and Kolton Freeman) in the win over the Cardinal. Eric Silva picked up the win. On Monday, they defeated Arlington from Riverside 12-0 with another 13-hit day. Clawson and Freeman again sent two over-the-fence, while Clawson also pitched and took the victory (2-0).
The tournament website is www.newportelks.usapremiersports.com, and all baseball stats are posted on the Laguna website at Max Preps.
Boys Volleyball
Doug Mauro’s team went 4-2 at the sixth annual Tesoro Tournament to open the season. Playing at Capistrano Valley on Saturday, Breakers lost to JSerra 25-19, 16-25, 15-17; defeated Portola 25-13, 26-24; then lost a tough one to Edison 30-28, 18-25, 13-15. In the Saturday playoffs, they defeated Aliso Niguel 25-13, 22-25, 15-13. On Monday, Feb. 18, play resumed at Tesoro High School where the Breakers easily swept Irvine 25-16, 25-8 before taking Yorba Linda 15-25, 25-21, 15-13. In the fifth set, Laguna was down 10-3 before they rallied back to take the match. Travis Mauro hit on five serves, including two aces to spark the comeback. For the tournament, Geste Bianchi had 71 kills, Andrew Reavis had 66 hitting .306, Travis Mauro led in aces with 12, Reavis was dig leader with 39, while Milo Zegowitz was the top blocker. Josh Meiswinkle and Dylan Brashier provided some key plays in the Yorba Linda win. Aryton Garcia had a good weekend at setter with 145 assists, 95 percent serve success and six kills.
Final Tesoro Standings: 1 – Newport Harbor, 2 – Tesoro, 3 – Edison, Huntington Beach, 5 – Los Alamitos, Beckman, Esperanza, Santa Margarita, 9 – J Serra, University, SVC, Dana Hills, Canyon/Anaheim, 14- Laguna Beach, 15 – Yorba Linda, 16 – Capo Valley and Irvine, 18 – St John Bosco, Woodbridge, Northwood, Aliso Niguel.22 – Portola, Estancia, San Marino, El Dorado.
On Feb. 28, Laguna returns to the court when they host Laguna Hills at 6 p.m. at Dugger Gym. Breakers host Dana on March 5.
The 34th Annual Alumni game is slated for Friday, April 26, at Dugger Gym and will include Senior Night and a tribute to honor the late Rolf Engen, who was so instrumental in the success of the program in the 1970s.
