Youth squad has easy go of it

The Laguna Beach Age Group Water Polo girls’ Under-14 team picked up a pair of easy victories last weekend at the expense of teams from Huntington Beach and SET of El Toro.

The squad, which powered its way to a combined 40 goals in the two victories, is gearing up for the Speedo Cup national tournament in November in Columbia, Mo.

Laguna 16, Huntington Beach 3

On Saturday, Laguna traveled north and came away with an impressive victory in Huntington Beach.

Candyce Schroeder propelled Laguna to an early command of the match, scoring four of her game-high six goals in the opening quarter. Goals by Kelsey Thorton, Yoshi Andersen, Lyda De Groote and Jessie Holechek in the quarter allowed Laguna to streak to an 8-1 lead.

Jessica Shusko got into the scoring act with a goal in the second quarter and additional goals by Schroeder, Anderson and Thorton expanded Laguna’s advantage to 12-2 at the break.

Holechek scored in the third quarter and Schroeder netted another goal in the fourth quarter before Jenna Knott and Diana Shirley, each a members of the Laguna Under-10 team, posted goals to complete the scoring.

Laguna 24, SET 3

On Sunday, Laguna traveled to El Toro High to take on SET, a team composed of players from El Toro and Saddleback.

Laguna again got off to a hot start, racing to a 7-1 lead in the first quarter en route to the win. Jessica Shusko scored two of the first three Laguna goals and finished with four overall. Kelsey Thorton scored both of her goals in an opening quarter that also saw Lauren Hampton, Candyce Schroeder and Jessie Holechek register goals. Both Holechek and Schroeder finished with four goals each and Hampton scored three.

Lyda De Groote also had three goals and Kaitlyn Waidley, Riley Duncan, Hannah Lawson and Yoshi Andersen all scored once, as the entire Laguna lineup broke into the scoring column.

Edy Manetta was solid again in net for Laguna, which competes this weekend at the SPA Tournament in Irvine against teams from Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Corona del Mar and So-Cal.