San Marcos started the Elite Eight CIF-Southern Section Division 1 girls water polo playoffs as the No. 7 team.
Today, the Royals are No. 1 and CIF Champions.
San Marcos completed an amazing playoff run by playing lockdown defense, getting a superb performance from goalie Sophie Trumbull and beating crosstown rival and top-seeded Dos Pueblos, 4-3, in the Divsion 1 championship game before a full house at the Elings Aquatic Center on Saturday night.
By beating its Channel League rival for the first time in three meetings, San Marcos (19-10) knocked off the No. 1, No. 2 (Laguna Beach) and No. 3 (Mater Dei) teams in the Division 1 Elite Eight tournament bracket.
Piper Smith, who had a huge tournament, scored the game-winning goal for the Royals on a power play with 4:42 left in the fourth period.
“We had a real rough start (of the season) with the fire, the mudslides, injuries, sickness,” she said. “We went through a lot to be able to be resilient. To come through that, really helped.”
Piper Smith scores the game-winning goal for San Marcos in a 4-3 victory against Dos Pueblos in the CIF Division 1 girls water polo title game. It’s the first CIF championship in program history for San Marcos. pic.twitter.com/Uv5mRIrs5K
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San Marcos got a big steal from Megan Musick and Trumbull made three huge stops in the final minutes to preserve the narrow win and give the Royals their first girls water polo championship in school history.
Trumbull’s last save had everyone holding their breath. She blocked the on-target shot from Abbi Hill, but the ball glanced off her hands and grazed the cross bar. Trumbull calmly turned and collected the ball 11 seconds left.
San Marcos ran out the clock and the Royals’ bench and coach Chuckie Roth jumped into the pool to celebrate.
The Royals’ victory was a credit to an incredible defensive effort. They kept Dos Pueblos scoreless for three periods and held Charger standouts Ryann Neushul to one goal and Hill goal-less.
“That’s what we focus on,” Royals’ coach Chuckie Roth said. “If they can’t score, then we’ll get our couple of looks. We played really good team defense. We’ve really been stressing awareness and communication in practice. The girls did a pretty darn good job of that. We weren’t perfect but we did a pretty darn good job.”
Hannah Meyer harassed Neushul all game and Smith, with help from Lili Rose Akin and Sarah Owens, kept Hill under wraps in the hole set.
“It’s a team effort, but it really falls on the likes of Piper Smith and Hannah Meyer, and Sophie Trumbull, who played phenomenally tonight. But then there’s several other girls out there who were doing their part, too,” said Roth.
The UC Irvine-bound Smith said the Royals needed to play physical against Hill and the Stanford-bound Neushul.
“They’re both phenomenal players,” she said. “We really had to focus on them, and to do so we knew the physicality we had to bring and what we had to do to hold them down. I think we did real well. We held our own.”
Said Meyer: “Honestly, they are such great players. We did not want them getting the ball. I wanted to just do anything to make them not get the ball.”
Trumbull appreciated the defensive effort.
“Their offense is really strong, but we have some of the best center defenders in Piper Smith and Hannah Meyer. They really took care of Abbi hill and Ryann Neushul.”
Fiona Kuesis got the Royals on the board at 2:45 in the first period. She took a pass from Owens and beat DP goalie Anna Cable one on one.
The Royals deflected a shot by Neushul and stole the ball to break up a Charger power play.
San Marcos capitalized on a power play and went up 2-0. Ella Prentice, making a near post sprint, scored off a crossing pass from Musick.
In the second period, Dos Pueblos (29-2) worked to get the ball inside to Hill, but San Marcos defenders Smith, Meyer, Akin and Musick smothered her.
The Chargers earned a couple of power plays but they couldn’t get a ball past Trumbull. She stopped Olivia Kistler point blank and made a pair of saves against Hill.
Trumbull finished with 15 saves.
“It’s the best feeling in the world because if you screw up she’s got your back,” Meyer said of having Trumbull behind her. “All of the stress is lifted when you know Sophie is going to block it. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time I just have that feeling. I’m so proud of her and I’m so glad she’s my goalie because I get that feeling.”
Dos Pueblos coach Connor Levoff applauded San Marcos’ play.
“They’re really disciplined on defense,” he said. “We did not manage to put away a lot of opportunities we had. Flat out they were better than us tonight. They deserved to win, flat out.”
On the Royals’ defense: “They play this bracketing defense with the center,” Levoff said. “I think we forced too many opportunities in there and didn’t step up and get ourselves in rhythm shooting early and that came back to bite us later in the game.
“We still had a ton of opportunities that didn’t end up in the cage like they have for us all year. Sophie made a bunch of point blank saves. There’s a reason why she is one of the best goalies in the country.”
San Marcos celebrates winning its first CIF girls water polo after a 4-3 win over Dos Pueblos at a jam packed Elings Aquatic Center. pic.twitter.com/OMsu77tEHw
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Dos Pueblos finally got one past Trumbull at 4:55 of the third period. Ryann Neushul fired a shot off the post and Thea Neushul grabbed the rebound and scored.
That gave the Chargers momentum. They tied the score 2-2 when Kistler fed Ryann Neushul at two meters and Neushul delivered a brilliant backhanded shot.
Unlike the past games against DP (10-2 and 7-4 losses), San Marcos didn’t fold under the pressure. The Royals drew an ejection against Hill, and Owens scored for a 3-2 lead with 1:53 left in the third period.
Trumbull stopped Hill again, but DP managed to tie the game at 3-3 on a power-play goal by Kistler with 51 seconds left in the third.
The game winner came after Smith drew an ejection and followed up with a goal.
“It’s amazing, my heart dropped when it went in the goal,” Smith said. “Really, it comes down to luck and training. It really all fell together.”
Said Levoff: “As a water polo bylaw, if you give up four goals, you expect to win. We started to come back and made it 3-3, and we’re feeling good. They made a nice isolation play and Piper scored a nice goal.”
San Marcos is the CIF Division 1 girls water polo champion pic.twitter.com/QnsEI25jYh
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San Marcos was playing in its second straight championship game. The Royals lost against Laguna Beach last year.
“I can’t even explain this feeling right now being surrounded by all my friends in Santa Barbara; showing them up on their home turf,” said Trumbull of winning the title at DP’s pool. “I’ve never been prouder of my team. We accomplished every thing we wanted to accomplishment this season and more.”
Said Smith: “The passion and the fire of these girls is what got us here. They are the most motivated group I’ve ever met in my entire life. If they want it, they’re going to get it.”
Levoff said San Marcos was at its best in the postseason.
“They did a great job peaking at the right time because they had a hard time with things for the first couple of months of the season,” he said. “They figured things out right when they needed to. All you got to do is win three good games and they certainly did that.”
Said Roth: “Tonight, I said (to the players), ‘Just come out and compete and love each other, and if you play hard it’s going to be a great game. I can’t promise you a win but I can promise you that you can walk away having played a wonderful game and be proud of yourselves.”
It was a festive atmosphere at the Elings Aquatic Center as the two local teams played for the Division 1 title. CIF Commissioner Rob Wigod was there; the stands were packed; there was a balloon arch entry to the benches, with one half in San Marcos’ colors of blue and red and the other in DP’s blue and gold.
“It shows that our town cares about water polo, which is really nice,” said Levoff of the environment.
“Everybody who wanted to come could come tonight,” said Roth of playing the final in Santa Barbara. “I have a team mom from 20 years ago that’s here to support. There are lot of people in the stands with no kids in the water but they’re here because it’s a good thing for our community. I’m thankful for the CIF for allowing us to have it up here and provide this environment for these girls to play in.”
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.