Charger Derek Shoemaker sent Tuesday’s Channel League boys water polo showdown between Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos into overtime with a last-minute goal, but Ian Gamble and the Dons scored twice in the extra periods to foil DP’s upset bid, 6-5.
Gamble had four goals total for Santa Barbara, including two in overtime, and added four steals and four drawn-ejections in the matchup of league-unbeatens held at the Elings Aquatic Center.
“DP’s a big rival, so even though we’re really good friends, we really want to beat each other,” said Gamble after the match. “A lot of people came out here for this game from Santa Barbara High so it feels good to get a win.”
The pool deck was packed with a bipartisan crowd, slightly tilted in favor of the home squad.
“It’s always a tough place to win,” remarked Santa Barbara coach Mark Walsh. “With two teams so tightly matched, it’s going to come down to the little things. If he misses one of those penalties, it goes the other way.”
Two of the Dons’ final four goals came on Gamble penalty shots.
After Shoemaker’s only goal of the game forced overtime, Gamble put the Dons back on top with a penalty shot in the first extra period.
“Sometimes I psyche myself out,” Gamble said of those pressure situations. “So when I have penalty shots now, I just tell myself that ‘you’re the scorer,’ and I know I’m gonna score.”
DP’s Derrick Graham wouldn’t let it stand, however, getting the equalizer late in the second overtime period to seemingly force a final sudden-death overtime with the score deadlocked at 5-5.
“My guys just kept fighting back,” said Charger coach Chris Parrish. “They didn’t stop fighting; I was really impressed.”
But Gamble and the Dons responded and were able to score with less than 30 seconds remaining to knock off the resilient hosts.
Jason Masho and Brendan Kerwin-McElroy scored the other goals for Santa Barbara.
Kevin Cappon scored twice for the Chargers, and Chase Racich scored DP’s lone first-half goal in a game where points were hard to come by.
In fact, the defensive struggle that ended 5-5 after regulation was only 1-1 at halftime.
“That was the best defense my team has ever played,” beamed Parrish. “It was amazing to watch 10 of my players have the best individual defensive game of their career, all in the same day.”
When all is said and done though, it’s hard to completely shut down the No. 3 team in Division II.
“This is the game we’ve been wanting to win the entire year because DP is our major rival,” said Dons goalie Hunter Ploch, who had 10 saves. “We knew we could beat Buena, San Marcos and Ventura, but our real competition was with DP.”
The victory puts the Dons at 4-0 in the Channel League and 15-4 overall. Dos Pueblos falls into second place in league at 3-1. Besides Buena and San Marcos, both teams have a league match with No. 10 Ventura before facing each other again on Nov. 6 where DP has a chance to share the league title if both teams win out.
SANTA BARBARA 6, DOS PUEBLOS 5
Santa Barbara 1 0 3 0 1 1 — 6
Dos Pueblos 1 0 1 2 0 1 — 5
Goals— SB: Gamble 4, Masho, Kerwin-McElroy. DP: Cappon 2, Graham, Shoemaker, Racich. Saves— SB: Ploch 10. DP: Wollert 10.
