Dos Pueblos girls water polo coach Chris Parrish knows what a CIF championship team looks like. He coached three of them (two boys and one girls team) and assisted on three other girls’ title teams in his first stint at the school.
After watching San Marcos beat his Chargers, 13-7, in their rescheduled Channel League crosstown game on Tuesday at Elings Aquatic Center, Parrish believes the Royals have the makings of a championship team.
“This is the best team in my memory that San Marcos has ever had,” said Parrish. “Really, honestly, they’re so talented. It’s like a dis-service to Santa Barbara water polo if they don’t win a championship. You have six girls going to play Division 1 water polo. It’s a special group.
“The fact we got a chance to play with them and we kept it relatively close for the first quarter and then tied with them (6-6) in the second half, there’s a lot to take from that for us.”
In a battle of Channel League undefeated teams, San Marcos (6-0 in league) controlled the first half and allowed just one goal.
“We have some very defenders and I know (the Chargers) do to, but I like our team defensively,” said San Marcos coach Chuckie Roth. “All year, defense has been something that’s been more of a bread and butter for us.”
The solid defensive play made things comfortable for goalie Lauren Schweitzer, who was filling in for injured starter and Cal signee Elaia Hamilton.
“The other girls did a good job in transition,” said Roth. “I thought my goalie Lauren Schweitzer had some nice blocks, especially early on.”
Five of DP’s goals against Schweitzer came on five-meter penalty shots from Harvard-bound Emma Gilbert. Athena Wigo scored two goals in the run of play.
The Royals scored twice on power plays and led 3-0 after the first quarter. After DP goalie Megan Garner stopped a penalty shot, San Marcos scored three more goals in the second quarter before Gilbert got the Chargers (5-1 in league) on the scoreboard with her first penalty shot.
San Marcos got goals from six players in the first half en route to 7-1 halftime advantage.
A total of seven Royals scored in the game, led by Sophia Panossian with three goals. Makenna Stretz, Charlotte Raisin, Reagan McEachen and Ava Stryker followed with two goals apiece.
In the third quarter, Stretz finished a cross-pool pass from the Michigan-bound Panossian to make it 9-2 before Gilbert converted her second penalty shot.
Then Stryker went to work. The USC signee, who recently returned from playing with the U.S. Women’s Senior National Team in Australia, powered past a defender and scored to make it 10-3.
The Royals got McEachen involved early and she created problems for DP defenders in the center.
“She did a lot of great stuff for us,” said Roth of the Stanford-bound center. “She commands such a presence.”
McEachen finished one of the Royals’ best plays of the game to start the fourth quarter. She took a pass from Panossian in the set position and whipped a backhanded shot past Garner.
“She really does a good job of just finding space. You give her an inch, she’ll take a mile,” said Roth.
The San Marcos coach, who guided the Royals to the 2018 Division 1 title against Dos Pueblos at the Elings Aquatic Center, was pleased how his team played.
“All in all, I thought that was pretty good,” said Roth. “There’s some things we can work on, but today I was happy with the way we played.”
The game was originally scheduled in December, but the coaches agreed to reschedule it in January, when the three transfers from San Marcos to DP would be eligible.
The Royals play at the Newport Elite Eight Tournament this weekend. Dos Pueblos also heads to Orange County for the Southern California Championships.