Dos Pueblos girls water polo took control from the opening whistle and cruised to a 15-6 win over rival Santa Barbara High on Tuesday.
The Chargers got contributions from up and down their lineup, as nine different players found the back of the net en route to the victory.
“The goal in the start of the season is trying to integrate as many people as possible, as quickly as possible,” Dos Pueblos head coach Chris Parrish said. “Being able to rotate through everyone on the bench and getting everyone some playing time in there is great.
“It’s good to knock off the rust. It’s been a long time since the girls have played… We’re trying to integrate the other girls who are brand new to the program or moving in from JV. Getting them involved is fun.”
Meanwhile, the new-look Dons continued to fight as the game went on and outscored the Chargers in the final period.
“We’re kind of figuring out how we’re working as a team. We have a few new girls and we lost a few girls from last year’s team, so it’s kind of a whole new team,” Santa Barbara High head coach Mark Walsh said. “We’ll be a lot better down the road, but I was encouraged by our first game.
“We competed hard, we fought, we worked hard and we weren’t just going to roll over and let them bury us.”
Dos Pueblos got out to a blazing start thanks to Kyra Jones, who opened the game by scoring off a ricochet and followed that up with a transition goal off an assist from Tahlia Marshall to grab a 2-0 advantage just over one minute into the game.
After some back-and-forth play, Deveraux Wigo got in on the fun with back-to-back goals of her own to take a 4-0 lead with 2:37 left in the first.
“It’s always nice to come out and get a lead,” Parrish said. “My anticipation is that when you start the season, if you don’t have a lot of high-level scrimmages on your belt, you don’t remember the pace of the game. You just kind of forget.
“We were able to use a little bit of our speed to just get out in the open water and find some easy passes for some easy goals. It’s good to get that lead early because it allows the girls to take a deep breath and just settle in on the defensive end.”
DP continued to roll as Charlotte Neushul and Marshall each scored to balloon the lead to 6-0. However, the Dons capped off the quarter with a goal from Yesenia Dunn off a pass from Nala Rosen.
The Chargers bounced back with a dominant second quarter, adding on four more goals while holding Santa Barbara High scoreless to expand the lead to 10-1 at halftime.
Dos Pueblos’ goals came courtesy of Jones, Cierra Furneaux, Lucia Yanez and Devin Fitzgibbons. On the defensive end, standout goalie Reagan Mack kept the Dons in check and ended the day with 14 saves.
“[Mack] is so solid. You can pretty much do whatever you want on defense, knowing that at the very least, Reagan is probably going to make it a very difficult shot from any position in the pool, including right in front of her,” Parrish said of his goalie. “She’s an anchor on the back and the girls rely on her.”
The Chargers continued to have their way on both ends early in the third as Furneaux and Wigo each scored to expand the lead to 12-1 midway through the quarter. Wigo and Jones led DP with three goals apiece.
“Playing against a team that’s got that many club players, it’s a challenge for sure,” Walsh said. “They have one of the best goalies in the country on their team, so just getting the ball between the posts is a challenge.
“That makes it difficult, and then they have so many good club players, so it’s hard to get any good looks.”
The Dons then found some good looks on consecutive possessions as Jules Horton scored off an assist from Dunn to cut it to 12-2. Then, Horton drew a penalty and Rose Nelley buried the shot to make it 12-3.
“Jules Horton was a big concern of theirs,” Walsh said. “She saw a lot of double teams, which is going to free some stuff up from other people.”
However, the Chargers answered back with a goal by Lucy Watson and some strong defensive plays to take a 13-3 lead into the fourth.
SB continued to show its fight in the final quarter and outscored Dos Pueblos by one goal in the final seven minutes of play.
Violette Bailey found some open space and scored twice in the fourth, while Horton’s second goal of the contest rounded out the Dons’ scoring.
Meanwhile, DP received a pair of goals in the final minutes, thanks to Malaya Coleman and Parker Bryant, to bring the game to its final score of 15-6.
“I was really proud of the girls for sticking with it and not getting discouraged,” Walsh said. “I thought it was a good first game.”
The Dons will have a quick turnaround to host Thousand Oaks on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., while the Chargers will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 5, against Newport Harbor.