Schedule to get tougher

On Wednesday, Laguna began its bid for a third consecutive Orange Coast League championship with a 19-1 rout of visiting Estancia. The Breakers played shutout polo for the first three quarters before losing the shutout in the fourth.

Laguna led, 10-0, after one quarter and 13-0 at the half.

Taylor Dodson had four goals and three assists to lead the way. Melena Masson scored three goals and Annika Dries, Lexie Ross and Natasha Schulman each scored twice. Also finding the goal were Yoshi Andersen, Lida De Groote and Kaitlyn Waidley.

Of course, the going figures to be much tougher starting today at the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, an event considered to be one of the premier girls’ water polo tournaments in the Southland.

The 16-team tournament is hosted by both Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos highs.

Laguna, the top seed in its four-team pool, plays its first game at 3:45 p.m. against co-host Santa Barbara at the Dons’ pool.

The Breakers, Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor and Dos Pueblos, are the top seeds in their respective pools.

The 16-teams are broken down into the following four-team pools:

Pool 1: Corona del Mar, Montebello, Riverside Poly, Santa Margarita.

Pool 2: Laguna Beach, Los Alamitos, Vista (San Diego), Santa Barbara.

Pool 3: Newport Harbor, Coronado, Palos Verdes, Long Beach Wilson.

Pool 4: Dos Pueblos, Foothill, Rosary, Carlsbad.

The tournament is loaded with many of the top-ranked teams in the CIF Southern Section. Seven of the top Division I teams — Corona del Mar (1), Newport Harbor (2), Dos Pueblos (3), Foothill (4), Los Alamitos (5), Rosary (7), Santa Barbara (9) — as well as No. 1 Laguna and No. 2 Montebello of Division II are vying for the tournament title.

Following the Santa Barbara Tournament of Champions, Laguna will play Sage Hill on Wednesday (6:15 p.m.) in a league match at Corona del Mar High.