Bronze is good enough for Laguna

The Laguna Beach 14-and-under boys’ water polo team turned in a strong performance at the Junior Olympics national water polo tournament, earning a bronze medal for its third-place finish.

The 48-team tournament ended Wednesday and was held at several Orange County pools, including the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.

“It is incredibly remarkable that, as small a community as Laguna Beach is, we can field a team that places in the top three of a national tournament of 48 teams,” Laguna Coach Ethan Damato said. “It is a testament to the skill, heart and intensity with which these boys play the game of water polo. I am immensely proud of them.”

Laguna’s 14-and-Under boys’ water polo team is: Samer Alkateb, Caleb Scott, Dylan Payne, Rian Atherton, Bobby Weiland, Gian Salvini, Nolan McConnell, Nicky Brunner, Erik Henrikson, Camron Hauer, Cade Montgomery, Zack Taylor and Riley Browne.

Laguna 7, Los Angeles 6: Dylan Payne scored from the outside in the final 30 seconds of this bronze medal match to give Laguna the win and a final standing of third place.

Camron Hauer scored twice.

Laguna 18, Golden State 1: Laguna scored at will in its tournament opener and easily handled their Sacramento-area foe.

Rian Atherton led the scoring with four goals. Goalies Bobby Weiland and Erik Henrikson had a near shutout at the other end of the pool.

Laguna 14, American River 6: Another Northern California opponent, another easy win for the locals.

Dylan Payne led the scoring with six goals coming off an array of steals, lobs, fast breaks and inside tip-ins. Nolan McConnell and Cade Montgomery served up the critical passes for Payne’s scoring onslaught.

Laguna 10, North Irvine 8: Laguna faced its first stiff challenge against North Irvine and trailed 6-4 at the half before outscoring the tournament’s No. 3 seed, 6-2, in the second half.

Nicky Brunner exploded in the second half offensively as Laguna pulled into a tie score, 8-8, at the end of the third quarter. Erik Henrikson had several big plays in the second half, one when he dove to block a five-meter penalty shot in which his deflection sent the ball over the pool fence, out of the pool compound and onto a nearby baseball field. He also knocked down a high shot in the upper corner of the Laguna goal.

Brunner scored on a lob shot to wrap up the victory.

Three more wins makes 7-0: Laguna was 7-0 at the outset of the tournament after defeating a pair of familiar foes in San Diego Shores (10-5) and Newport (9-6), USC (10-1) and La Morinda (9-5) from the East Bay. Nolan McConnell scored four goals, Dylan Payne and Camron Hauer each scored twice and Riley Browne scored once against San Diego Shores. Samer Alkateb and Cade Montgomery led the scoring charge against Newport by scoring a combined three goals off Laguna’s 6-on-5 power plays.

SoCal 9, Laguna 5: SoCal of Tustin led from the start and went on to hand Laguna its first loss. Despite the setback, Laguna still moved on to the semifinal round.

SET 4, Laguna 3: Laguna’s semifinal match-up was against none other than its cross-county rival, SET (Saddleback/El Toro), the No. 1 seed in the tournament and winner of the 2006 tournament in the 12-and-under division.

Both teams were tenacious and neither was able to score as the half ended in a 0-0 deadlock. Both teams were able to crack the scoreboard in the third quarter with goals by Nathan McConnell “” his on a bullet shot from the perimeter “” and Dylan Payne “” his coming on a bomb from way outside, allowing Laguna to take a 2-1 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the final quarter, McConnell set up Riley Browne with an alley-oop pass and Browne’s tip-in increased Laguna’s lead to 3-1. SET, however, responded with two goals to tie the score with 50 seconds to play. SET then came up with a steal after double-teaming an inbounds pass that led to an unopposed goal.

SET went on to defeat SoCal to win the tournament title.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (949) 494-4321 or by e-mail at [email protected].