Nic Prentice scored seven goals, and the San Marcos High boys’ water polo team earned crosstown bragging rights with a 13-6 victory over Dos Pueblos on Wednesday afternoon at Elings Aquatic Center.
The score was tight early, but San Marcos built a lead in the second period and cruised to victory.
“We have a lot of depth and we were trying to rotate kids,” said San Marcos coach Peera Sukavivatanachai. “I think it really showed in the third and fourth quarter when we started ramping up the goals.”
A goal by Prentice with 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter gave the Royals a 3-2 lead and sparked a 6-0 San Marcos run that spanned deep into the third quarter.
The Royals were swarming on defense and paid extra attention to Dos Pueblos’ top players Brody Luke and Jaden Moore. The Chargers repeatedly turned the ball over, and it opened up easy opportunities in transition for the San Marcos offense that broke the game open.
“We’re pretty familiar with DP with them being a local team, so we knew who their shooters were, we knew who their big stars were, so we had a plan coming in to make sure those kids didn’t create opportunities and to help off the other [players] if necessary,” Sukavivatanachai said. “It took us a little bit of an adjustment realizing what their defensive plan was, and I think we played it pretty well.”
Sign up for Indy Today to receive fresh news from Independent.com, in your inbox, every morning.
Prentice scored two more goals in the second quarter to give San Marcos a 5-2 lead at halftime and Charles Franzen extended the lead to 6-2 with a goal at the 5:25 mark of the third quarter.
Jacob Magid added two third quarter goals and San Marcos entered the fourth quarter with a 9-4 lead.
Luke was the lone bright spot for Dos Pueblos offensively as he scored five goals, including four in the second half.
“I think San Marcos probably had a pretty good game plan coming in, and we certainly helped them with a ton of turnovers,” said Dos Pueblos coach Chris Parrish. “We just had a tough time making accurate passes. They played some pretty good defense, but really we just threw them the ball several times.”
With the victory, San Marcos improved to 3-0 in Channel League play and Dos Pueblos dropped to 2-1. The two teams could meet again in the Channel League tournament at the end of the regular season.
Support the Santa Barbara Independent through a long-term or a single contribution.