No. 1 set to square off against No. 2 in pool

One of the top battles of the 2007 prep girls’ water polo season will take place today at the Laguna Beach High pool when the top two teams in CIF Southern Section Division II collide.

Undefeated and top-ranked Laguna will play host to second-ranked Villa Park in a 3:45 p.m. match, the Breakers’ first home contest in a month.

“I know it’s going to be a real, real tough match,” Laguna Coach Chad Beeler said. “It will definitely give us an idea of how we’ll match up against teams that we will face in CIF.”

Laguna tuned up for today’s showdown with a pair of nonleague victories.

Most recent was a 15-4 win Wednesday over host Estancia in the Orange Coast League opener for both teams.

The Breakers did all of their scoring in the first half, going from a 9-1 first-quarter lead into a commanding 15-1 cushion at the half.

Seven Breakers scored, led by Erin Reid’s four goals. Breanna Duplisea scored three goals, Taylor Dodson, Jessica McKee and Lexi Ross each scored twice and Annika Dries and Natasha Schulmann each posted a goal.

Dries also racked up six assists. McKee had three assists, Duplisea a pair and Ross, Schulmann, Maddi Duncan and Celia Huling each had an assist.

Huling also recorded 11 saves in goal.

With Laguna in control after the first quarter, Beeler said that he was able to play his two substitutes — Duncan, a sophomore, and Ross, a freshman — the final three quarters.

Laguna also defeated Santa Margarita, 8-5, on Tuesday at Saddleback College. It was the Breakers’ first outing since a 20-7 rout of Sage Hill on Dec. 20.

The Breakers shut out the Eagles (ranked fifth in Division I) in the second quarter to stretch a 3-2 first-quarter lead into a 5-2 halftime advantage.

McKee had three goals and an assist, Dries had two goals and an assist, Erin Reid scored once, Duplisea collected three assists and Taylor Dodson had three assists and two steals.

Huling had five saves.

“We started out pretty well against Santa Margarita but couldn’t put some early shots away. But other than that, I was happy with the way the girls played,” Beeler said. “Things went pretty much as expected against Estancia. They’re building up their program right now and I thought they did a nice job against us in the first quarter.”

Following today’s match against Villa Park, the Breakers return to the pool and league play Wednesday for a 3:15 p.m. home match against Costa Mesa.

CIF Rankings

The CIF rankings for girls’ water polo were released Monday and Laguna was ranked No. 1 in the first Division II poll of the regular season. The Breakers were followed in the poll by Villa Park, Agoura, Santa Barbara, Mira Costa, Dana Hills, Dos Pueblos, Royal, Mission Viejo and San Clemente.