The Santa Barbara girls water polo team defused No. 6 Edison 4-1 on Tuesday in the first round of the CIF Division I playoffs, using a strong defensive performance to keep an opponent at a single goal for a second time in the last three games.
Chloe Brooks had 11 saves and Camille Wissman recorded a team-high three steals to help Santa Barbara avenge an earlier overtime loss to Edison in the Holiday Classic tournament.
The No. 10 Dons move on to face No. 9 Rosary on Wednesday in Los Alamitos. Coincidentally, Santa Barbara faced Edison and Rosary on the same day at the Newport Harbor Holiday Cup, falling to both by single-goal margins.
“We knew we could be competitive with them,” head coach Mark Walsh said of Edison because of the earlier meeting, hoping the same confidence will carry over to Rosary. “Our team defense was great; we didn’t give up a lot.”
On Tuesday, Makenzy Fowler started the scoring with a 2-meter shot and Leah Gonzales and Elle Ingalls responded with goals in 6-on-5 situations in the second quarter to push the Dons out to a 3-0 halftime lead.
Univerity of Hawaii-bound Monique Wilson was the only Edison player to get one past Brooks and she did so in the third.
Charlotte Hendrix, who assisted on all three of Santa Barbara’s first goals, ended an extended Dons scoring drought by putting one home with 90 seconds left on the clock.
SANTA BARBARA 4, EDISON 1
Edison 0 0 1 0 – 1
Santa Barbara 1 2 0 1 – 4
Goal Scorers – E Wilson, SB Fowler, Gonzales, Ingalls, Hendrix.
Goalie Saves – SB Brooks, 11.
