Laguna Beach Beats Familiar Foe in Overtime

Laguna Beach had help in advancing to the Southern Section Division II boys’ water polo semifinals Wednesday.

Jonny Geiger scored a team-high four goals and sophomore David Bartels stopped 17 shots in an 11-10 overtime victory over Katella at Laguna Beach.

Ethan Damato, who finished with three goals, scored the game-winner at about the halfway point of overtime on a penalty shot.

It also helped that the Artists had won a coin flip that determined the game’s site, and knew exactly what they were up against: The teams had met three times this season.

“We spent the last week and a half practicing against Katella’s plays,” Laguna Beach Coach Rick Scott said.

The Knights won the first meeting in early October at the Villa Park tournament. A few days later, Katella won a nonleague game. The Artists beat Katella in early November at the North Orange County Tournament.

“We knew their plays so we were able to practice against those,” Bartels said. “Our defense definitely played a big role. They had beaten us twice, and now we evened the score.”

Bartels had several crucial saves during overtime. He stopped shots by T.J. Jara, Scott Shaddy, Jeff Pratt and Dan Flude. A shot by Shaddy with 30 seconds left in overtime was wide.

Geiger scored the game’s first two goals Wednesday, before Pratt, a senior two-meter man who scored a team-high 105 goals for Katella, scored with 39 seconds left in the first quarter.

Laguna Beach (16-12) twice led by three goals. Geiger’s goal with 4:57 left in the second quarter gave the third-seeded Artists a 5-2 lead.

Shaddy’s shot with 1:32 left in the first half tied the score, 5-5.

A goal by Thor Conley gave Laguna Beach a 10-7 lead with 27 seconds left in the third quarter.

With the Artists leading, 10-8, in the final quarter, Jara and Brian Wersky scored, the latter coming with 34 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. The Artists have won all four of their overtime games this season; it was the first overtime game this season for Katella.

This is the third consecutive season the Artists have reached the semifinals. They will play Marina, ranked fifth in the Orange County coaches’ poll, Saturday at a site to be determined.

The Artists, who were ranked fourth in Division II in the final section coaches’ poll, also are familiar with the Vikings.

“We scrimmaged them and we don’t keep score of scrimmages,” Scott said, “but they beat us by about 20 goals,” he said, smiling.

Katella ended the season 24-5.