Santa Barbara High boys water polo pulled out a 6-5 victory over Cate in a low-scoring, non-league affair on Thursday in Santa Barbara.
The defenses held strong throughout the game and, after trailing 4-3 heading into the fourth, the Dons battled back thanks to a pair of fourth-quarter goals by Lorenzo Russell to secure the win.
SB grabbed the advantage in the opening quarter as goals from Oliver Kelly and Mason Graham gave it a 2-1 lead heading into the second. Emmanuel Brine netted the Cate goal.
The defensive slugfest continued in the second quarter as both teams managed just one goal apiece, with Paolo Borgioli scoring for the Dons and Sebastian Brine finding the back of the net for the Rams.
After coming out of the halftime break trailing 3-2, Cate buckled down and dominated the third quarter. While the defense held SB scoreless, Sebastian Brine and Fletcher Prince each scored to give the Rams their first lead of the game at 4-3 with one quarter to play.
The Dons began the fourth quarter on fire, as Russell scored the first two goals of the quarter to quickly give his team the lead right back at 5-4 with four minutes to play.
Calvin Nelley followed that up with a goal of his own to extend the SB lead to 6-4 with under two minutes left on the clock.
Cate’s Elliott Paige scored one more goal in the final seconds of play, but it was too little, too late as the Dons held on for the win.
Kelly was all over the pool for the Dons, tallying one goal, two assists and three steals. Meanwhile, Mason Walsh collected six saves in the cage for SB.
Dos Pueblos 16, Carpinteria 5
The Charger seniors put on a show in Thursday’s non-league victory over their local rival Warriors at Elings Aquatic Center.
Seniors Ben Fuhrer and Eli Carnaghe led DP in scoring with four goals apiece, while senior Aricin Marshall dished out four assists.
It was a tight matchup early as the Chargers left the first quarter with a slim 3-2 lead. The DP defense then stepped up and held Carpinteria to one goal in the second to extend the lead to 6-3.
The Charger offense took over from there, pouring in 10 goals in the second half to pull away for the win.
While the seniors led the way, Lucas Neushul chipped in three goals, Channing Wigo scored twice and Skyler Carroll, Grant Nelson and Tyler Racine all scored one goal apiece. Koa Zertuche finished the day with 10 saves in the cage.
As for the Warriors, Stefano Picoletti tallied five blocks and five steals as the team’s goalkeeper. Sam Medel, Micah Smith, Chris Reed and Sky Korling contributed on the offensive end.
Dos Pueblos (9-2) will compete in the South Coast Tournament next weekend. Carpinteria will host Cate on Tuesday, Sept. 23.