Laguna Beach takes fourth at Speedo Cup in Michigan

The Laguna Beach Water Polo Club girls’ 14-and-under team took fourth place at the Speedo Cup water polo tournament at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The three-day event, which concluded Sunday, was held at the Canham Natatorium on the University of Michigan campus.

Laguna fell one match shy of reaching the title game. In the third-place game, Laguna was edged, 5-4, by Newport Beach. The tournament final Sunday was an all-Southern California affair that saw Commerce win the title by defeating Santa Barbara, 10-5.

Laguna began tournament play Nov. 7 with easy wins over Greenwich (12-3) and La Jolla (12-1). On Saturday, the locals beat Stanford (7-3) but lost, 6-3, to Commerce. Sunday saw Laguna fall, 4-2, to Santa Barbara before being edged by Newport Beach in the third-place game.

“The girls did really well and had a great time,” Laguna Coach Chad Beeler said of the experience. “Our defense was unmatched by any team there. We just have to work on our offense a little more and that’s what we’ll be working on at practice.”

“” Mike Sciacca