San Marcos girls water polo opened its CIF Division 1 SoCal Regional Tournament run with a 7-6 victory over The Bishop’s on Tuesday in La Jolla.
The Royals will remain on the road for the regional semifinals against Oaks Christian on Saturday in Thousand Oaks.
“As a coach, tonight was very special,” San Marcos head coach Chuckie Roth said. “The girls pulled out a win in one of the most difficult pools to play in, outnumbered by fans.
“The girls were resilient, overcoming obstacles throughout the game. We had two starters foul out at the beginning of the third quarter.
It was a defensive slugfest throughout, with both teams coming up with clutch stops down the stretch until the Royals pulled out the win.
Charlotte Raisin and Ella Grube each scored twice for San Marcos, while Bethany King collected 10 saves in the cage. Shea Estabrook netted what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Royals.
“Ella Grube stepped up huge tonight. She was not the only one, but she had two big goals,” Roth said. “We had kids playing sick, injured and out of position. Not sure if there’s any coach out there to ask more from their team.
“Today is one of the greatest wins and memorable moments of my coaching career. I’m beyond proud.”
Carlsbad 10, Santa Barbara High 9 (Div. 2)
The Dons’ season came to an end with a one-goal loss to Carlsbad in the first round of the CIF Division 2 SoCal Regional Tournament on Tuesday in Santa Barbara.
The two sides were knotted up at 9-9 down the stretch, but Carlsbad found the back of the net with 50 seconds on the clock to take a 10-9 lead.
Santa Barbara High had two more shots to tie the game but they both sailed wide and Carlsbad escaped with the first-round victory.
The Dons actually held a 6-3 lead late in the second, but Carlsbad woke up out of halftime and held a slim 8-7 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Jules Horton paced the Santa Barbara High attack with six goals and two assists, while Rose Nelley scored three times. Defensively, Sasha Jones had seven saves and Violette Bailey picked up four steals.