Local boys water polo teams found some success on day one of the Steve Pal Memorial Water Polo Tournament at Villa Park High School on Friday.
San Marcos
The Royals, competing in the tournament’s top division, went 2-0 on the first day of competition.
San Marcos defeated La Jolla by a score of 10-5 and took down San Juan Hills 11-10 to clinch a spot in the semifinals on Saturday.
In the matchup with La Jolla, the Royals never trailed en route to the win. Nic Prentice led the way offensively with a quartet of goals while Mateo Obando added in three of his own.
The second matchup of the day was a bit more dramatic, as the matchup against San Juan Hills needed overtime to determine a winner.
It was a tale of two halves, as San Marcos bolted out to a 3-0 lead after the first quarter and led 8-1 at halftime. However, San Juan Hills clawed back with a monster second half, outscoring the Royals 9-2 including a game-tying goal with 15 seconds left.
Despite San Juan Hills carrying the momentum, San Marcos pulled out the win with an overtime goal.
Dos Pueblos
In the middle division of the tournament, the Chargers split their two matchups to open the weekend.
Dos Pueblos took down Mt. Carmel 10-6 before dropping a matchup with Riverside Poly, 11-10.
In the opening matchup, Jaden Moore led all goal scorers with four while goalie Reggie Robles finished with an impressive 15 saves.
The Chargers fell just short of a comeback against Riverside Poly, as Dos Pueblos trailed 6-1 at halftime before outscoring its opponent 9-5 in the second half.
Moore continued his stellar play with five goals while Robles ended with six saves. Ben Fuhrer logged two goals and two assists to go along with solid defense.
Santa Barbara
The Dons, who are in the tournament’s low division, split their two matchups on day one.
After opening the day with a 6-5 win over Redondo, Santa Barbara fell to Notre Dame by a score of 12-5.
Against Redondo, Lolo Russell scored four of the team’s six goals while Shane Davis and Paolo Borgioli chipped in a goal apiece.
Also in that matchup, Jack Drown collected two assists and two steals while Nikita Kolosov ended with nine saves.
In the loss to Notre Dame, Drown had a trio of goals to lead the team and was followed up by Davis and West Graham, who each scored one.
