After nearly 30 years, San Marcos is a CIF-Southern Section champion in boys water polo again.
The top-seeded Royals outscored crosstown rival Dos Pueblos 5-1 in the second half en route to a 9-6 victory for the Division 2 title before a full house Saturday at the Elings Aquatic Center.
San Marcos last won a CIF boys water polo championship in 1994.
The Royals used tough defense to shut down and eventually wear down the Chargers in the second half.
“We have a lot of depth and we used that to our advantage,” said San Marcos coach Peera Sukavivatanachai. “We made sure going into the third and fourth quarters that DP would run out of steam.”
Dos Pueblos played a strong first half and took a 5-4 lead on a rebound by Ben Fuhrer on a shot off the cross bar by Aden Bishop.
San Marcos took charge of the game in the third period behind its lockdown defense and the play of sophomore center Will Stuart. Following a steal, he set up Jacob Magid on a fast-break for the tying goal and then scored two goals on a drive and an outside shot for a 7-5 advantage.
“We did what we do best,” said Stuart, who led all scorers with three goals. Nic Prentice and Mateo Obando each had two goals.
Dos Pueblos goalie Reggie Robles stopped a point-blank shot by Prentice, but the Royals retained possession and Obando scored to cap a 4-0 run for an 8-5 lead.
“We set goals in the beginning of the season and we said we wanted to win CIF, and we made it happen,” said Obando, who transferred from Santa Barbara after last season.
Grant Nelson got a goal back for the Chargers at the end of the third period, beating goalie Sam Rich on a long skip shot.
In the fourth period, Luke Burns buried an outside shot and the San Marcos defense and Rich’s goalkeeping kept DP scoreless to secure a place in program history.
“It feels great,” said Burns. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since my freshman year. We went to the quarterfinals my sophomore year and the semifinals my junior year. It’s only fitting we win in the finals in my senior year.”
“We knew this game was going to be challenging,” said Coach Peera, who took the Royals to the quarterfinals and semifinals the last two seasons. “We knew that potentially we might be down or tired going into the second half, but we prepared mentally and physically. I’m proud of these guys.”
The Royals did a solid job containing DP’s leading scorer Jaden Moore, holding him to two goals in the first half.
“We had to double team him and force their other guys to shoot,” said Coach Peera.
The goals came mostly from the perimeter.
“Those were goals we were comfortable giving up. We just wanted to make sure that Jaden didn’t score. Defense was the priority for this game,” said coach Peera.
Obando said chemistry has been a key to San Marcos’ success.
“Ever since the beginning of the season it’s just worked. I think our chemistry was the biggest thing season.”
That chemistry was evident in the final. The Royals lost starter Hudson Macleod to an injury, but the team didn’t miss beat.
“We struggled in the beginning but we woke up and that’s what mattered. We took it home and that’s what’s important in the end,” said Obando.
Dos Pueblos coach Chris Parrish said he was amazed how his Chargers made it to the CIF championship. They were the third-place team in the Channel League and lost to champion San Marcos and Ventura in league play and to San Marcos in the league tournament semifinals.
“We all wanted to be here, we just didn’t know how certain we were gonna get here. After that Ventura game (a 10-9 win against the division’s second-seeded team in the CIF semifinals), I started to believe.
“We knew this was gonna be a really hard test for us.”
He noted that having a lead at halftime felt weird. “It was the first time we’ve had a lead in so long and I didn’t even know what to think because it been a few games since we had a lead at halftime.
“But they fought, they played their hearts out. The seniors really never let up and I’m super proud of them.”
Parrish, who guided the DP boys to back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005, said Saturday’s event and the tremendous atmosphere at the pool was great for the sport.
“The fact we can host the game here is nice. It’s nice to bring water polo to our community, and when the whole school can show up to watch the game, it makes a world of difference, win or lose. It’s just great to be able to do it.”
