A seven-goal first quarter and offensive dominance from Mia Martinez-Tomatis and Sadi Adams powered San Marcos girls lacrosse to an 18-7 win over Dos Pueblos on Thursday at Scott O’Leary Field.
With the victory, the Royals (10-2, 4-0 Channel League) remain undefeated in league play and grab sole possession of first place while the Chargers (5-3, 3-1) drop into second place.
San Marcos wasted no time getting on the board, as Martinez-Tomatis took the first touch she got, beat her defender and whipped in a goal from the right side to give San Marcos a 1-0 lead less than 30 seconds into the game.
That score sparked a commanding 7-0 run by the Royals to begin the game, with the next goal coming courtesy of a backhand shot by Martinez-Tomatis once again.
Adams then decided that it was her turn to take over for San Marcos, as she rattled off three straight goals over the next five minutes of play, ballooning the Royals’ lead out to 5-0 with four minutes left in the first.
“Sadi is just a LAX rat, she gets after it, she stays after our practice almost every day and shoots on goal,” San Marcos head coach Paul Ramsey said. “Having her ability and her willingness to work extra on her craft is fantastic.”
Rounding out the scoring for the Royals in the first were Jaymi Springer, who scored off an assist by Martinez-Tomatis and Clara Stump, the first of her two goals on the night.
The Chargers wouldn’t go scoreless in the first quarter, however, as Eloise Shea weaved through the San Marcos defense and found the back of the net with 20 seconds left to send the game into the second with the score 7-1.
Despite falling behind early, Dos Pueblos coach Anais Jimenez was happy with the energy that her team brought to the crosstown rivalry matchup.
“We went out with a lot of energy and high intensity, which is really nice to see especially after we had a hard game on Tuesday against Thacher,” Jimenez said. “We had a couple of injuries that put us a little bit behind but they gave it their all the whole game.”
Along with a strong offensive attack, a large reason for San Marcos’ big early lead was the strong play of goalie Megan Taylor, who had four saves in the opening quarter.
“Megan’s presence in the crease is just really useful as a defensive captain,” Ramsey said. “She has the ability to direct traffic and it’s just really nice to have a multifaceted goalie in there.”
Adams continued to roll in the second, scoring her fourth goal of the day after receiving the ball at midfield and taking it all the way down the field for a score.
However, Chloe Gotsis answered right back for Dos Pueblos with a goal less than a minute later to bring the score to 8-2.
Martinez-Tomatis then got back into the scoring column with a pair of goals, one coming off an assist from Gigi Mills and the other coming right after she put a shifty juke move on her defender.
“Mia is a basketball player also, so she kind of plays like a basketball player would, which is fantastic,” Ramsey said. “She is someone who can go 4 (goals), 4 (assists) on any given day, so it’s really nice to have her athletic ability and basketball style mixed in with our lacrosse.”
Both teams scored once again before the game went into halftime, with Shea scoring her second of the night for Dos Pueblos and Liv Plourde getting on the board for the Royals.
The two late-quarter scores gave San Marcos the 11-3 advantage heading into halftime.
“We started slow against Santa Barbara on Tuesday, so starting fast was something we wanted to do today,” Ramsey said. “It’s a fine line between starting fast and not forcing the ball, and the girls did a really good job with that.”
The third quarter was the quietest one of the day, but it once again was the Royals who had the advantage.
Three different San Marcos players scored in the third, with Mills, Adams and Stump all finding the back of the net before Dos Pueblos got on the board, expanding the lead out to 14-3.
Susy Lopez provided the Chargers’ lone goal in the third after she wrapped around the back of the net and snuck the ball past the Royals’ goalie.
The offense picked back up in the fourth quarter, with San Marcos outscoring the Chargers, despite it being the highest-scoring quarter of the game for Dos Pueblos.
For the Royals, Martinez-Tomatis scored two more goals and Adams netted one more of her own to bring both of their game totals to six, a game-high. The final San Marcos goal of the night came from the stick of Plourde.
Meanwhile, the Charger offense kicked it up a notch and found some late success, as Hannah Martin, Gotsis and Reagan Arnold all scored in the fourth quarter.
“We realized that we didn’t have to be as amped up as we were in the beginning,” Jimenez said of her team’s late push. “We took a deep breath, calmed ourselves and went back to our roots and our fundamentals.”
Gotsis and Arnold’s goals came in the final three minutes and were the final scores of the game, bringing the final score to 18-7 in favor of the Royals.
San Marcos, now riding a seven-game winning streak, will play host to Nordhoff next Tuesday while Dos Pueblos has a matchup against Cate on the road.
