Santa Barbara tried to overcome a slow start but fell short and lost to Long Beach Wilson 7-5 in a nonleague battle of CIF Division 1 girls water polo teams at the Dons’ pool on the eve of this weekend’s Tournament of Champions.
“We had a hard time getting going,” Santa Barbara coach Mark Walsh said. “We were down 4-1 in the third period and didn’t get our second goal until there were two minutes remaining in the third.”
The Dons stepped up their play in the fourth period and cut a 5-1 deficit to 5-4 behind the scoring of Makenzy Fowler and Samantha King. But Wilson staved off the rally and held on for the victory.
Santa Barbara beat Wilson 5-3 earlier in the season.
“I liked how we responded in the fourth period, but we came up a little short,” said Walsh.
The coach said he was pleased at how his players turned it on in the final period.
“I kind of got into them,” he said. “Scoring two goals in three quarters is not enough to win ball games. They took it to heart. We need to come out play like that in the first quarter.
“We’re young, but the talent is there,” he added. “We need to bring it out of them for the entire hour.”
Fowler led the ninth-ranked Dons (5-8) with three goals. Goalie Chloe Brooks made nine saves.
Santa Barbara opens Tournament of Champions play at 3:45 Friday against Laguna Beach, the No. 1-ranked team in Division II.
