Charlotte Raisin scored four goals and the San Marcos High girls’ water polo team pulled away for a 12-5 victory over rival Dos Pueblos on Tuesday afternoon.
The Royals honored their senior class pregame and overcame a first quarter deficit by leaning on their defense as the match progressed to capture the win.
“I thought our defense was really solid today. I thought we got off to a little bit of a slow start,” said San Marcos coach Chuckie Roth. “DP did a nice job, had a good game plan, came out and got a couple on the board early to keep it close. Then I think we just relied on steals leading to counter attacks and that’s kind of our M.O. When that’s working it goes pretty well.”
Frankie Court opened the scoring with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter to give Dos Pueblos a 1-0 lead, but San Marcos evened the score at 1-1 less than a minute later on a goal by Marina Brown.
HanaLora Abel put the Chargers back ahead, 2-1, with 5:06 remaining in the first quarter with a goal off an assist from Deveraux Wigo. However, the San Marcos defense tightened and Dos Pueblos did not score again until the third quarter.
The Royals ripped off a 10-0 run beginning with a goal by senior Makenna Stretz that tied the score at 2-2. Stretz was a consistent presence on the left-hand side.
Goalkeeper Serenity Ford along with Lucy Haaland-Ford and Bethany King spearheaded the Royals spirited defensive effort.
Those girls really stepped up and provided some sound leadership that helped us come up with the win,” Roth said.
Naomie Enright scored a couple late goals that helped San Marcos build its lead. With the victory San Marcos improved to 19-3 overall and 5-0 in Channel League play.