No. 3-ranked Dons rout San Marcos to break into win column

Third-ranked Santa Barbara High scored six goals before San Marcos could get on the board and rolled to a 13-3 victory on Tuesday in the Channel League girls water polo opener for both teams.

It was the first win of the season for Santa Barbara (1-2), which opened with home losses to CIF Division 1 No. 2-ranked Foothill and No. 1 Corona del Mar.

Sophie Trabucco scored two goals in the first period and Kelsey O’Brien, Rocio Fesembeck and Betsy Hendrix followed with single goals to give the Dons a 5-0 lead.

Jessica Gaffney opened the second period with a goal to make it 6-0. Riley Heiduk of the Royals (2-4) broke the Santa Barbara scoring streak before the Dons tallied three more goals. O’Brien had two and Anna Brummet scored the other for a 9-1 halftime lead. O’Brien was a perfect 3-for-3 shooting the ball.

Eight different players scored for the Dons.

San Marcos suffered a big blow when goalie Jenna Phreaner had to leave the game with an injury.

The Dons’ offense continued to perform at a high level in the second half. Kristina Garcia, making her varsity debut increased the lead to 11-2 with a pair of goals. she also had two steals. Freshman Mackenzie Fell had a team-high three steals.

Haile Johnson scored the third goal for San Marcos.

The Royals ran into a hot goalkeeper in Madeline Trabucco. She made 11 saves in three quarters, including a stop on penalty shot and a pair of six-on-five opportunities.

Jesse Ranson and Hendrix finished the scoring for Santa Barbara, which hosts Edison on Friday.