Dos Pueblos boys lacrosse came from behind and pulled out a 10-9 overtime win over Oaks Christian on Wednesday night at Scott O’Leary Stadium in Goleta.
The Chargers (1-2) trailed by as many as four goals throughout the game, but battled back to clinch their first win of the young season.
“After a couple tough losses, this is exactly the way we wanted to respond, and I’m glad the guys were able to get the win here,” Dos Pueblos head coach Lucas Martinez said.
Oaks Christian dominated the opening stages of the game, racing out to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter. The Lions continued to roll throughout the majority of regulation, leading 7-3 at halftime and 8-4 after the third.
However, Dos Pueblos came roaring back in the fourth quarter and Noah Vernon and Austin Fauver each scored in the final minute for the Chargers to tie the game at 9-9 and send it to overtime.
In the overtime period, Dos Pueblos got a defensive stop on the first possession and Dylan Wooten then buried a shot from the outside to give the Chargers the victory.
“I was really happy with how the guys responded tonight,” Martinez said. “It’s not easy to go down early, and be down late and still gut out a win. After the first quarter, we played really complementary lacrosse, and we got looks based on ball movement, not hero ball.
“That’s the way we want to play, and I’m really happy that the guys are bought in and see what we’re trying to do.”
Fauver scored a team-high four goals, while Wooten netted a pair of goals and dished out three assists.
“Austin and Dylan had monster games, not only in scoring, but they played great on defense and transition as well,” Martinez said. “Tripp Martin had a great game at face-off too, really grinding out the ground balls we needed to get possessions.”
Girls Lacrosse
The San Marcos girls lacrosse team fell to West Ranch by a score of 14-7 in a non-league matchup on Wednesday.
The Royals had a 5-4 lead late in the second quarter before Victoria Aldana was forced to leave the game with an injury. After Aldana’s injury, West Ranch scored two goals to end the half and take a 6-5 lead into halftime.
“Our game plan for that moment is to hold for the last shot and be up 6-4 or maybe still up 5-4 but no momentum given to the other team,” San Marcos head coach Paul Ramsey said. “We didn’t do that, and letting them have the ball to finish the half with two quick goals really sparked them.”
Aldana scored four goals and tallied one assist before leaving the game just before the break.
The Royals then struggled to keep up with West Ranch in the second half, as the Wildcats boast a pair of Division-I commits in Grace Manning and Lauren Lamb. They scored 10 of their team’s 14 goals en route to the win.
“We wanted tough non-league games like this one this year,” Ramsey said. “Those two are NCAA DI signed athletes who played like it tonight, and we were toe to toe with them for a long time.
“If we limit their possessions a few more times and get a little more attacking out of our offense, that’s a different score despite how good they are.”
San Marcos (2-1) will be on the road against Oaks Christian on Friday at 6:30 p.m.