Breakers come up big

A holiday trip to the desert proved rewarding for the Laguna Beach High girls’ soccer team.

In addition to enjoying a bonding experience, the Breakers journeyed to compete at the Palm Desert Tournament from Dec. 26-28 and finished with a third-place finish among 12 teams.

Laguna posted a 3-1 tournament record, recorded a pair of shutouts and had two come-from-behind performances. During regulation play, they outscored their opponents, 21-4.

“I’m very happy with where this team is at this point,” Laguna Coach Bill Rolfing said. “We have a very energetic, young team that is playing strong soccer.

“What’s been nice is that we’ve been able to hang with the bigger teams. We’re not the small team anymore. We have a roster of 19 and this is a balanced team. The girls are friends and work hard.”

The tournament was played at the Palm Desert Soccer Park. The 12 teams were divided into four, three-team divisions.

Laguna 14, Banning 0

The Breakers had little problem with the Broncos in rolling to a lopsided opening-round victory.

Leading the scoring onslaught for Laguna was sophomore Holden Penney, who posted four goals. Freshman midfielder Kelsey Peterson had three scores. Junior Kaylee Rees played strongly at midfield and scored twice and added an assist.

Laguna 2, Cathedral City 2

(Laguna wins on penalty kicks, 3-1)

Laguna’s second match was much tougher, as the Breakers won by penalty kicks against the Lions.

The win was important in that it sent the Breakers on to the semifinal round.

Laguna was at a disadvantage from the start, as senior keeper Lauren Caris came down with the flu and was inactive for the remainder of the tournament. But the Breakers didn’t miss a beat as junior Angela Lozano, who had never played keeper, came up with what would be the first of three big efforts in the tournament.

The physical match began with Nikki Clark scoring off an assist from Marissa Hoffman, which gave Laguna a 1-0 halftime advantage. Cathedral City came back in the second half to post consecutive scores and forge a 2-1 lead.

Late in the match, the pressure play of junior midfielder Laura Renault led to an open net and sophomore Madeline Arterbern calmly nailed a 40-foot shot.

In the penalty kicks session, Lozano was outstanding in turning away the first three shot attempts by Cathedral City. Clark, Renault and defender Claire Rubel were able to convert their penalty kicks to give Laguna the win.

Palm Desert 2, Laguna 2

(Palm Desert wins on penalty kicks, 5-4)

Like its previous match against Cathedral City, Laguna played the host team to a tie through regulation, but the Aztecs prevailed on penalty kicks in this semifinal match to move onto the final.

The Breakers took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Courtney Capobianco off a long feed from Wesley Hamchuk. Palm Desert rallied to take a 2-1 lead late in the match but a goal by Jackie Csira, off an assist from Renault, lifted Laguna into a tie and forced the penalty kicks session.

Laguna 3, Nuview 0

The tournament’s third-place match was played under windy conditions, but the Breakers weren’t slowed down.

Renault again keyed the midfield attack and scored twice. Capobianco scored on a penalty shot, as the Breakers took a commanding 3-0 lead at the half.

Laguna — which was 7-5-1 heading into a Thursday nonleague match against Pacifica — begins its first season in the Orange Coast League on Thursday at Costa Mesa.

The Mustangs went 13-0 and won the championship last year in their final year in the Golden West League.

“We’re cautious about league play because everybody seems evenly matched,” Rolfing said. “What’s important, though, is that we take league one game at a time. That’s what we are stressing.”