Both San Marcos and Carpinteria boys water polo played in tight games on Thursday, with the Royals and Warriors outlasting their respective opponents.
San Marcos 8, Redondo Union 6
San Marcos took down Redondo Union by a score of 8-6 on Thursday.
The game was tightly contested throughout, with Redondo Union holding a 3-2 lead after the first quarter.
Redondo Union held off the Royals for the second quarter as well, taking a 5-4 advantage into the third.
In the third quarter, San Marcos outscored Redondo Union 3-1 to jump out to a 7-6 lead, the Royals’ first lead of the matchup.
The San Marcos defense then buckled down in the fourth quarter as they did not allow a goal while the offense found the back of the net to secure the 8-6 victory.
In the goal, the Royals got 15 saves from Sam Rich en route to the win. Luke Burns led the offensive attack with five goals to go along with one penalty and one exclusion drawn. Jacob Magid added in two penalties and one exclusion drawn as well.
San Marcos will hit the road to take on La Serna High on Saturday.
Carpinteria 10, Rio Mesa 9
The Warriors escaped a hard-fought game with a 10-9 win over the Spartans.
Rio Mesa came out firing, jumping out to a 3-0 lead early and holding that lead after one quarter.
The Spartans continued to ride the momentum, scoring a pair of goals early in the second quarter. After a Carpinteria timeout, the Warriors turned it around and scored two goals of their own before halftime to bring the score to 5-2.
Carpinteria stayed hot coming out of the break, tying the game at 5-5 heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter was an electric one, as big offensive plays from both sides left the score at 9-9 with under a minute remaining.
With seconds left, Carpinteria earned a five-meter penalty shot and senior Cody Schwasnick found the back of the net to take the 10-9 lead.
Schwasnick’s goal was his second crunch-time goal of the game.
The Spartans had a few seconds left to tie the game back up, but their final shot was denied by Sky Korling.
“The Spartans came to play today and it took everything we had just to climb back in this game,” Carpinteria coach Karl Fredrickson said. “I’m very proud of the veteran leadership that closed it out for us on both ends.”
Asher Smith led the defensive effort, allowing zero goals from the center position. Meanwhile, Griffin Yamaoka scored one goal while tallying three assists, three steals and one ejection earned.
Carpinteria will take a week off and face off against Nordhoff for the league opener on Sept. 26.
St. Joseph 10, Bishop Diego 8
Bishop Diego fell to St. Joseph in their season opener at Cate School.
St. Joseph jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the fourth quarter but the Cardinals settled in and competed for the rest of the game. However, the early deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
Noah Peterson was a dominant force for the Cardinals, scoring all eight of the team’s goals. Meanwhile, Ben Zoltsoki had eight saves in the goal.
“I’m proud of the boys coming back since we only have two returning players,” Bishop Diego coach Hank Peterson said. “All the boys played well and I am proud of their play.”
The Cardinals will take on Hueneme and Channel Islands on Friday.
