Santa Barbara High boys lacrosse used a dominant second half to take down San Marcos by a score of 8-7 on Tuesday at Warkentin Stadium.
With the victory, the Dons (2-7, 1-2 Channel League) drew even with the Royals (2-7, 1-2) in the Channel League with about one month to go in the regular season.
“It was a really even game and we knew we’d have to play for four quarters and until the last minute, and we did that,” Santa Barbara coach John Keogh said. “We’re going to ride this and if we can get into the top three (of the league), we’ll make the playoffs.”
The Dons got on the board first in the opening two minutes when Cayden Costner fought off multiple defenders and snuck his shot past the San Marcos goalie for the 1-0 lead.
About two minutes later, the Royals responded when Preston Fehr fired a shot from the outside that found the back of the net to tie the game up at 1-1.
Both teams then buckled down on defense, with Santa Barbara goalie August Nielsen and San Marcos’ Elliot Mathieson making strong plays.
The next goal came with 1:04 left in the first, and it was Fehr once again getting it done. The junior weaved around his defender and got off a quick shot for the score and the 2-1 lead.
With 16 seconds left in the quarter, Santa Barbara’s Gavin Unander took the ball all the way down the field and converted the 1-on-1 opportunity to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the second.
The Royals came out and asserted their dominance in the second quarter, rattling off three unanswered goals across 10 minutes to pull ahead for a 5-2 lead.
Fehr continued his stellar first half with two of those goals, one coming after wrapping around the goal and the other coming via a drive from the right side. Fehr’s four goals were a game-high.
“Preston demonstrates the leadership that we have internally, we have a lot of guys that are ready to fight and compete,” San Marcos coach Ike Chafkin said. “Preston is one of those people that will dodge through an army and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.
“Through the season he’s been a major part of our offense and an invaluable leader.”
The other goal for the Royals in the second quarter came from the stick of Ethan Oxman, who had control of the ball from midfield to the net.
The Dons survived being shut out in the second quarter when Jasper Larrson converted a skip-shot goal from 20 yards out, bringing the score to 5-3 at halftime.
Santa Barbara carried that momentum over into the third quarter, scoring a pair of goals while holding the Royals’ offense scoreless.
Larrson got the second-half scoring started with a scoop shot goal from the outside to cut the lead down to one in the opening minute of the third.
With 6:41 left in the third, Santa Barbara’s Aaron Baizan applied pressure to the Royals’ goalie and knocked the ball loose, resulting in a scramble for the ball.
In the scramble, Costner picked up the ball and fired at the empty net for the equalizer.
“We had lots of scoring opportunities that we weren’t capitalizing on (in the first half),” Keogh said. “Lacrosse is a game of runs and I just felt like if we could get a couple of scoring plays to get the ball rolling we would get our confidence.”
The final six minutes of the third was a defensive battle, sending the game into the fourth tied at 5-5.
“We stayed in it, and that’s a big thanks to Elliot Mathieson, who stood on his head throughout the game,” Chafkin said. “Our defense continues to be a shining spot for us, but offensively sometimes it doesn’t go your way and it’s just about fighting.”
Four minutes into the fourth, Costner continued to roll by scoring his third goal of the night after finding an opening in the middle of the defense, giving the Dons their first lead since early in the first quarter.
Less than one minute later, San Marcos’ Dylan Foster zig-zagged between a pair of defenders to create space and fired the ball into the net to tie things back up at 6-6.
The back-and-forth play continued just 40 seconds later when Unander spun free of his defender, found himself in a 1-on-1 with the goalie and he scored for the 7-6 advantage.
After some chippiness and strong defense from both sides, the Dons’ Jack Shapiro gave his squad an insurance goal with 2:31 left on the clock.
That insurance proved to be necessary, as Oxman was credited with his second goal of the night after he attempted to cross the ball into a teammate and it ricocheted off a collision between two players into the net, making the score 8-7.
The Dons held on defensively for the final two minutes of play to pull out the rivalry victory.
“What was really fun was that certain guys went out of their comfort zones, we had a couple of lefty goals which is rare,” Keogh said. “I was challenging guys to take a risk and go for it, and it worked out. Our confidence built with every goal so we rode that wave.”
Santa Barbara will take on San Clemente on Thursday while the Royals will continue their rivalry week with a matchup against Dos Pueblos.