Laguna youth polo teams take twin titles

Boys’ under-11 and under-9 squads are tops in tourney play.The Laguna Beach Soccer Club had plenty to celebrate as two of its teams won their divisions of the Orange Coast Invitational Soccer Tournament.

All four Laguna boys’ teams -- under-13, -12, -11 and -9 -- were competitive in their divisions, and the under-11 and under-9 teams, under the direction of coach Tony Peiffer and club director Andy Thomas, won their respective tournaments last weekend in Huntington Beach.

Boys’ under-11 Laguna won the division title by claiming a 2-1 victory from the Irvine Lasers.

Laguna’s Matthew Finkelstein scored the first goal, working the ball up the middle of the field and through the last line of defense and sending his shot into the back of the net.

Minutes later, Laguna scored again when Grifan Fair launched a shot from outside the 18-yard line over a leaping Lasers goalkeeper to make it 2-0 at the half.

Irvine scored on a corner kick to narrow the gap to 2-1, but Laguna’s defense stiffened for the remainder of the match, securing the title.

Joaquin Moeller, Jovani Reyes, Adam Farsheed, Andrei Kvitsinski, Dylan Rotert and Jacob Swansen, the newest addition to the team, made key contributions to Laguna’s title run.

Laguna had opened the tournament with a 1-1 tie against Las Vegas. A Stan Ziegler pass set up Reece Barton for the score in the first half, giving Laguna a 1-0 lead.

Laguna came back in its second match to post a 1-0 victory over Corona.

The only goal of the match came when Matthew Finkelstein scored after fighting through several defenders to get off his shot.

Goaltender Alec Williams and the defense of Jake Rogers, Blair Conklin, Shawn Dhillon and Adam Mejia, prevented Corona from scoring.

Laguna next faced the Irvine Lasers. The match, which preceded the division final, ended in a scoreless tie.

Joseph Rousseau, Reece Barton and Alec Williams also make up the boys’ Under-11 team.

Boys’ under-9

In its first season playing together, Laguna’s under-9 team won the tournament with strong all-around play.

Leading the offense were forwards Zach Jacobs, Zach Finkelstein and Brent Cahill and midfielders Evan Williams, Harrison Gregory and Danny Weiland. Jacobs, Finkelstein, Evan Williams and Harrison Gregory led the team in scoring.

The defense was sparked by the play of Alex DiGenova, Willy Wheeler, goaltenders Dominic Droulez and Brent Cahill, and Jeffrey Rubino and Tyler Metez.