12-and-under water polo wins silver

Mike Sciacca

The Laguna Beach 12-and-under girls’ water polo team finished its

season as one of the top teams in the nation as it earned a silver

medal at the USA Water Polo Girl’s National Junior Olympics in San

Jose.

Laguna’s only loss came at the hands of its rival and the eventual

champion, Santa Barbara.

Laguna blazed out of the tournament gate with a pair of resounding

wins, defeating Davis, 16-1, and Diablo, 17-1, in pool play.

Laguna began the second day of tournament play with a 7-2 victory

over the North San Diego Stars.

The Stars were coming off a 27-3 win over Capistrano Valley, but

Laguna was more than ready for the challenge.

Candyce Schroeder netted the first goal with 1:28 left in a tight

first period. Early in the second, Yoshi Andersen’s speed produced a

kick out, and Riley Duncan did the honors after some great team

passing, to make it 2-0.

Melena Masson and Jessica Shusko teamed for a bit of give-and-go,

resulting in Shusko’s third score.

Near the end of the period, another offensive speed rush by

Andersen lead to a four-meter penalty shot being awarded, and Jessie

Holechek pounded the ball into the back of the net to make it 4-0.

Laguna continued with its pinpoint passing and staunch defense the

rest of the way.

Holechek scored the final goal on a set play, following a timeout,

to complete a 7-2 win.

Kaitlyn Waidley, Paige Armando, Candyce Schroeder and Alia Manetta

again gave big defensive efforts, as did Edy Manetta in goal.

Next up for Laguna was its main nemesis, Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara came into the contest having out-scored each of its

four tournament opponents by at least 11 goals, beating that foursome

by a combined score of 59-6.

In addition, Santa Barbara held a 3-0 record over Laguna in three

previous meetings this season.

Santa Barbara won the fourth matchup too, 7-3.

Goals by Masson and Holechek allowed Laguna to take a 2-1 lead.

Early in the second period, Shusko hit the cross bar with a shot, but

Edy Manetta came up with another big save. Holechek then created a

kick out with the eventual scoring play going from Shusko to Riley

Duncan to Andersen, which gave Laguna a 3-1 advantage.

Edy Manetta snuffed a few shot attempts later in the period, but

Santa Barbara managed to close to within 3-2 at the intermission.

Santa Barbara held Laguna scoreless in the third period and with

its offense getting on the board, managed to force a 3-3 tie heading

into the fourth period.

Santa Barbara then scored the final four goals of the match.

Now needing a victory against Chino Hills on the third day of the

tournament in order to get into the gold medal match -- a likely

rematch with Santa Barbara -- Laguna responded with a 6-3 victory.

In the last meeting between the two teams, Laguna squandered a 3-0

lead and lost to Chino Hills, 4-3.

This time, Laguna again gained the early upper hand as Duncan and

Masson posted goals to give Laguna a 2-1 lead by the half.

In the third period, Shusko took advantage of a kick out and

scored Laguna’s third goal. Manetta then found Holechek in hole set

in the spread offense, and Holechek scored for a 4-1 advantage.

Holechek later scored on a four-meter penalty and Shusko completed

the scoring for Laguna when she drilled a shot into the net from

nearly 15 meters out.

Playing Santa Barbara in the division final at Gunderson High

School in San Jose, Santa Barbara again got the best of Laguna --

this time, by a 5-1 score.

Following a scoreless first period, Santa Barbara tallied two

goals in the second period to take a 2-0 lead.

It became 3-0 in the first minute of the third period, but Masson

scored Laguna’s first goal later in the period to make it 3-1.

During the awards ceremony, in which Laguna was presented with a

towering, second-place trophy, the trophies were handed out by Guy

Baker, the head coach of the U.S. women’s water polo team that will

compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.