Dos Pueblos boys water polo punched its ticket to the Santa Barbara Invitational semifinal with a pair of victories on Friday at Elings Aquatics Center.
The Chargers took down Westlake and Mater Dei to advance to a semifinal matchup with Beckman High on Saturday at 9:10 a.m. back in Goleta. Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach are on the other side of the bracket.
Dos Pueblos began the day and its tournament with a bang, running away with an 18-7 victory over Westlake. The Chargers dominated their way to a 9-2 first-half lead and never looked back.
Grant Nelson led the charge with six goals, while Lucas Neushul and Channing Wigo each had three goals. Meanwhile, Skyler Carroll and Ty Abel scored two times apiece, and Luke Molyneaux and Wyatt Warkentin rounded out the scoring.
On the defensive end, Koa Zertuche came up with two penalty saves and dished out a trio of assists. He anchored a defense that totaled 13 steals in the win.
Dos Pueblos kept it rolling with a tight 11-9 win over Mater Dei. After the Chargers led 5-1 after the first quarter, the Monarchs battled back to tie the game at 7-7 in the third.
However, Dos Pueblos regained control with three straight goals to end the third quarter and held on for the win.
Nelson scored four goals and had two assists, while Wigo filled up the stat sheet with three goals, two assists and three steals. Neushul and Warkentin each scored twice, while Warkentin also had three steals.
San Marcos
The Royals kicked off their Friday with a comeback 12-11 victory over Loyola before falling to Laguna Beach, 13-9, at Santa Barbara High.
San Marcos trailed Loyola 11-5 early in the fourth quarter, but the Royals rattled off six straight goals with the last coming in the final seconds from Indiana Roth to tie the game at 11-11 and force sudden-death overtime.
Brandon Lee then came through in the clutch, netting the game-winning goal in overtime for San Marcos.
In the second game of the day, the Royals were tied with Laguna Beach 7-7 in the third quarter before Laguna Beach pulled away down the stretch for the win.
Ryder Wilson and Lee each scored a trio of goals for San Marcos in the loss.
San Marcos will take on Yucaipa on Saturday at 10:20 a.m. with a spot in the fifth-place game on the line.
