Laguna polo teams on a roll

Playing flawlessly on defense in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s match against host Los Alamitos, the Laguna Beach Water Polo Age Group girls’ 14-and-Under team emerged with a 6-1 victory at the Armed Forces Base pool.

Playing in a pool facility whose deep end is the widest surface above which it competes, Laguna overcame some early problems by making adjustments to the pool. Nearly three minutes into the game, hole set Lexy Ross drew a kick out. Following some perimeter passing, Jessica Shusko was able to walk in from the left wing and send a shot into the net.

A minute later, Yoshi Andersen fed Melena Masson for Laguna’s second goal.

Laguna went up, 3-0, when Ross made a nice spin move and flipped a shot past into the back of the goal, and the lead was maintained when Edy Manetta made two saves.

Laguna took a three-goal lead into the break.

In the third quarter, Andersen scored from long range just as the shot clock was sounding to make it 4-0. Los Alamitos scored later in the quarter, but Laguna’s defense shut down the host team the remainder of the match.

Laguna’s defensive effort, which created numerous turnovers in the fourth quarter, was keyed by Masson, Shusko, Kacki Brown, Jesse Holechek and Riley Duncan. Offensively, Ross completed the scoring with a lob shot and back-handed goal.