It was after a first-round CIF playoff victory over Rio Mesa that Santa Barbara High senior Chase Raisin declared the Dons were committed to win a championship ring.
Raisin, the inspirational leader of the team, made sure Santa Barbara achieved its goal of winning the CIF-SS Division 3 title. His long-range lob in the last 2:30 of the championship game gave the Dons an 8-7 lead against Schurr. Fellow senior Dylan Fogg followed with a power-play goal to seal the victory for the sixth title in program history, and the first since 2006.
The Santa Clara-bound Raisin not only earned a ring for being a member of the championship team, he was recognized as the Division 3 Player of the Year.
He is Santa Barbara’s first boys water polo CIF Player of the Year since Jeff Cole in 2006.
Fogg and sophomore goalkeeper Wyatt Pieretti were named to the 14-player All-CIF-SS Division 3 team.
Fogg was huge for the Dons during their playoff run. He scored four goals in a 10-6 second-round win over Edison, had three goals, three assists and three steals in an 11-10 overtime victory at Los Osos, buried five goals in a 10-9 semifinal win over Northwood and scored three clutch goals in the second half in the championship game.
Pieretti, one of three sophomores on the team, was a force in the cage. In the final, he made a pair of big saves in the fourth period to keep the score tied at 7-7.
In the overtime win at Los Osos, he came up with back-to-back point-blank saves in the first extra period and made his 15th save of the game at the buzzer to secure a trip to the semifinals.
He was clutch down the stretch in the semifinals, too, thwarting a Northwood comeback to put the Dons in the championship game.
Santa Barbara’s Mark Walsh was named the division’s coach of the year.
ALL-CIF-SS DIVISION 3 BOYS WATER POLO
Player of the Year – Chase Raisin, Santa Barbara (12)
Coach of the Year – Mark Walsh, Santa Barbara
All-CIF Team
Dylan Fogg, Santa Barbara, 12
Wyatt Pieretti (G), Santa Barbara, 10
Dominic Hernandez, Schurr, 12
Issaac Bello, Schurr, 12
Richard Yun, Beckman, 11
Sam Monette (G), Beckman 11
Max Abravanel, Northwood, 12
Gray Carson, Long Beach Wilson, 10
Zac Crenshaw, Long Beach Wilson, 10
Sean Sherman (G), Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks, 12
Gavin Pierce, Redondo Union, 12
Dane Howell, Edison, 12
Peter Trinh, Temple City, 12