San Marcos girls water polo wrapped up a successful opening week with a pair of victories over Laguna Beach and Newport on Saturday.
Playing in seven total games, the Royals have begun their season with a record of 6-1.
“I was really proud of our athletes this week,” San Marcos coach Chuckie Roth said. “It was a huge challenge for our team and we improved as athletes and teammates. It is hard to get teams to come to Santa Barbara for a game, however, when they all say yes, we make it work.
“As a coach, I have always believed in challenging athletes and this weekend was just that.”
San Marcos 7, Laguna Beach 4
The Royals came away with a three-goal victory over Laguna Beach to begin the day.
After leading 3-0 at halftime, San Marcos did enough to fight off a Laguna Beach comeback effort and ultimately walk away with the win.
Marina Brown and Charlotte Raisin each scored three goals in the winning effort while Naomi Enright rounded out the scoring. In the cage, Serenity Stan ended with nine saves.
San Marcos 11, Newport 10 (OT)
The second win of the day for the Royals was a dramatic one, pulling it away in overtime.
San Marcos fell behind early, trailing 3-0 to open the game. However, they slowly fought back, trailing 6-5 at half and 7-6 after the third quarter.
After knotting the game at 9-9 at the end of regulation, the Royals came up clutch and scored with 19 seconds left in overtime to pull out the 11-10 win.
It was an all-around performance by San Marcos, with three different players turning in multi-goal games. Both Lucy Haaland-Ford and Raisin scored three goals while Makenna Stretz found the back of the cage twice.
Meanwhile, Naomi Enright and Marina Brown each scored a goal.
The Royals will play in the Villa Park Tournament next week, beginning on Thursday.
