A special player is leading a locked-in San Marcos girls water polo team into a special place.
With a spot in the CIF-SS Open Division semifinals on the line, senior and USC-bound Charlotte Raisin put on a massive all-around performance Saturday in a crossover quarterfinal game of the elite eight-team, pool-play competition.
Raisin scored eight goals, made seven steals and added two assists as the Royals defeated Corona del Mar, 17-11, at the Santa Barbara High pool.
The victory sends them to the program’s first-ever semifinal spot in four Open Division appearances. San Marcos has played in four Division 1 final fours and won the championship of the CIF’s highest level in 2018.
The Royals (25-7) will play No. 1-ranked Mater Dei (27-2) on Wednesday at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine.
Raisin played incredible at both ends of the pool on Saturday. As a defender, she was practically a one-person high press, often disrupting the Corona del Mar player who was trying to set up the offense. A couple times she stole the ball at mid-pool and went down to score.
“She does stuff like that,” said San Marcos coach Chuckie Roth of Raisin. “She’s playing in a really special form right now, with a lot of confidence. It’s been pretty awesome to see her evolve as a leader in the pool and out of the pool. She’s grown so much, I couldn’t be more proud of her for the person she is.”
Raisin credits her defensive prowess to years of playing experience (she’s won international gold medals playing for USA Water Polo national youth and junior teams) and anticipating what the opposing player is going to do.
“I’ve been playing the game for a really long time and obviously that helps, but I anticipate really well,” she said.
“Char is a great player, there’s no two ways about it,” said Roth, who watched her score 10 goals in the Royals’ knockout win over Long Beach Wilson last Wednesday. “People give her a lot of credit for her scoring ability and offensive ability, her vision of the game but also her defensive presence. You don’t always pick up on it but today I think it was pretty obvious that she made some really heads-up plays.”
San Marcos had 10 steals in the game and turned several of them into goals.
“Look, it’s a team thing, make no mistake about it,” Roth noted. “There’s so much that other people do. Very few people realize (defender) Lily Brodofsky is making such a big impact in the game. She is one of the most heads-up defenders — smart, she foils so many plays. They’re all playing together. They’re all trying to put the ball in the hands of the best scoring opportunity, whether it’s Charlotte of somebody else.”
Raisin added: “My team does a great job. We all have different roles, especially in CIF I think everyone has stepped up and done their role super well. I think they do a good job of looking for me at all times.”
Goalie Bethany King is another player who has been a key to San Marcos’ success. Initially a field player, she’s handled goalkeeping duties for the last two years and has done a solid job between the pipes.
“When you have a field player that’s sacrificing two seasons now, and for her senior year, and say, ‘I’m going to play in the cage and play for you and give you the best chance of winning.’ What kid doesn’t want to play their heart out for that person,” said Roth. “She is the most unselfish person I’ve ever coached.”
CdM scored the first two goals of the game before San Marcos got rolling. Raisin scored her first after a Jade Pattison steal to tie the score early in the first period and gave San Marcos the lead for good with a shot inside the near post at the 3:03 mark.
The Royals tallied three more goals before the Sea Queens scored again to make it 6-3. Raisin answered with a bank-shot off the left post and, after another steal, followed with a nasty backhander off an interior pass from the wing by Scarlet Akin.
The Royals kept the pressure on CdM. Raisin made her fourth steal of the half, Pattison drew a penalty and Raisin converted the 5-meter shot for a 9-3 advantage.
Keira Bethell scored for the Sea Queens from the perimeter to make 9-4 at halftime. She led CdM with seven goals.
CdM scored the first goal of the second half before San Marcos reeled off three straight: Sophie Yonker scored to the far post, Raisin beat the goalie from distance, and Pattison made it 12-5. Pattison was the the Royals’ second leading score with four goals.
In her final game in Santa Barbara in a San Marcos cap, Raisin went out with a bang. She made a spinning shot from distance to beat the shot clock, stole the ball and drew a penalty, which Pattison converted, and picked a CdM player again and beat the goalie one on one for a 17-9 lead.
“It’s a great way to end my senior year,” said Raisin of her last home game as a Royal.
“The kids found a way. There was a lot of willpower there,” said Roth. “(CdM) got two early goals and we bounced back a little bit. I think we needed a little time to settle in today and once we did we were pretty good.”