Reggie Robles and Jaden Moore were on fire for the Dos Pueblos boys water polo team, leading the Chargers to a 10-8 win over Crean Lutheran in a play-in game for the Santa Barbara Invitational on Thursday at Elings Aquatic Center.
Robles made 12 saves and Moore poured in seven goals, including four on penalty shots, to rally the Chargers from a 4-1 deficit in the second quarter.
DP’s win sets up a first-round match against powerhouse Corona del Mar at noon on Friday at the Elings Aquatic Center.
In other action involving local games, San Marcos pulled away from San Luis Obispo 16-8 and Santa Barbara lost to Alta Loma, 18-3.
San Marcos will face Laguna Beach in a main draw game at 3 p.m. at Santa Barbara High. The host Dons play Garces Memorial of Bakersfield at 1 p.m. and Arroyo Grande at 4 in the round-robin competition of play-in game losers at San Marcos.
Dos Pueblos 10, Crean Lutheran 8.
Dos Pueblos couldn’t generate much of offense in the first 10 minutes against the high-pressing defense deployed by Crean Lutheran.
The deficit could easily been much worse if not for the play of Robles in the cage. He had four saves in the first period and added two more early in the second.
“Ridiculous,” said coach Chris Parrish of his goalie’s performance. “He was like, using an ice hockey term, standing on his head in there. He was knocking everything away, point-blank shots were getting blocked. I actually think that seized (Crean Lutheran) up a bit. They had numerous looks on the perimeter but they gave them up for some entry passes, trying to make something better happen because he was pulling down everything from inside 12 meters.”
With his team struggling to create shots early, Robles knew he had to come through to keep his team in the game.
“I had to make some necessary blocks in the first quarter and in the first half,” he said. “In the second half, we picked it up and scored a lot. We made a good comeback.”
Moore, who suffered an injured finger on his left hand last weekend at the Arroyo Grande Tournament, ignited the offense once he was inserted into the game in the second period.
He started with a tough, fallaway shot from the outside for DP’s second goal. He then drew a penalty after taking an entry pass from Andrew Fernandez and converted the subsequent penalty shot to make it a 4-3 game.
Crean Lutheran answered with a power play goal, but Moore came right back with another penalty-shot goal after drawing the foul.
Crean Lutheran scored again for a 6-4 halftime advantage.
Moore continued to go at the Saints in the second half and scored his third penalty early in the third period. He pulled DP to 7-6 with a regular goal and Lucas Neushul tied the score with a shot from the left wing at 1:38 of the third.
Crean Lutheran got a turnover on a DP power play and regained the lead on a two-on-one break.
The Chargers equalized on Moore’s fourth penalty-shot goal with :05 to go in the third period. He then gave them their first lead (9-8) on a terrific spinning shot at 5:45 of the fourth period.
“Patience made the difference,” said Parrish. “They had a great press defense that just pushed us out. If they want to do that, that means you have to play one-on-one water polo, and I’m happy to play Jaden one on one at center. He earned like six five meters (penalty shots). So, if that’s the way you want to play, we’ll find one good player and make you defend him.
“The defense works really well for them, if there isn’t a standout star. If Jaden wasn’t capable of playing today, we would have lost by a lot.”
Freshman Cole Racich scored from an extreme angle on a rebound of a blocked Aden Bishop shot to complete the scoring for DP.
Robles, meanwhile, continued to deny Crean Lutheran’s attackers. On a couple of power plays, he blocked a shot at the near post, stopped a skip shot and then came out of the cage to disrupt a shooter on a two-on-one break. The ball went to the other Crean player on the break and he misfired in front of an open net.
The Charger goalie capped his incredible day by blocking a one-time shot from the Saints on a lob play.
San Marcos 16, San Luis Obispo 8
The Royals went on a 5-1 run between the second and third periods to pull away from the Tigers at the Elings Aquatic Center.
Jake Magid, a member of the last spring’s CIF-SS finals qualifying 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams as a freshman, had a big day for the Royals in the game, sharing team-high scoring honors with four goals.
“Lots of potential there. We’re really excited about him,” said San Marcos coach Peera Sukavivatanachai.
Luke Burns also scored four goals and Nic Prentice tallied three.
The Royals, sparked by goalie Samuel Rich, unleashed a blazing counterattack that the Tigers had trouble slowing.
“We’ve been putting a lot of emphasis in our early season to try and get the ball up as early as possible,” said Sukavivatanachai. “It’s really good to see that show up in this game.”
The Royals were coming off a 2-2 record to start the season at the Long Beach Poly Tournament last weekend.
San Marcos played an extra game against Redlands East Valley, which won its play-in game by forfeit as St. Ignatius pulled out of the tournament at the last minute. The Royals beat REV 17-6.
Alta Loma 18, Santa Barbara 3
Sophomore Lolo Russell drew five exclusions, had a goal and an assist for the Dons in the play-in game loss.
Freshman Paolo Borgioli scored two goals and Shane Davis had eight steals.