Third place fine with Breakers

Three blow-out victories and one close loss added up to a third-place finish for the Laguna Beach boys’ water polo team at the Elite Tournament near Lake Elsinore.

The tournament, which had 16 teams from throughout Southern California competing for the title, concluded Sunday.

Laguna’s squad was made up of varsity veterans David Brunner, Preston Head, Robbie Quellmatz, Spencer Dodson, Robert Chew, Sean Spera, Brett Thompson and Victor Alcone and incoming freshmen Nolan McConnell and goalie Erik Henrikson.

Laguna 18, Temecula 0: The locals landed a big blow in their tournament opener, winning by shutout.

The scoring onslaught saw Brunner score five goals, Alcone four goals and Dodson scored three times.

Defensively, Henrikson posted his first varsity shutout in goal.

Laguna 11, Foothill 4: Laguna again scored in double digits and posted another easy win. Brunner and McConnell led the scoring with three goals each. Head and Alcone each scored twice and Quellmatz capped the scoring with one goal.

Elite 8, Laguna 3: Tournament host Elite (Murrieta) and Laguna met for the second time in two weeks, with Elite “” which pulled away late in the game “” again getting the victory.

Laguna 11, ML King Knights 1: Laguna regained its winning form in its final game by “stealing” one from the outmanned Knights.

A defensive gem saw Laguna come up with a steal in every way with Chew leading the attack with five steals. McConnell and Thompson also had several thefts and Dodson, Head, Spera and Quellmatz had their share, as well. Even goalie Henrikson recorded a steal.

Head and McConnell led Laguna’s scoring with three goals each. Dodson and Brunner both scored twice and Chew added a goal to round out his performance.