Dos Pueblos’ Chase Racich scored four straight goals after Santa Barbara scored first on Tuesday, and the Chargers never looked back, extending their lead after every quarter in an 11-6 Channel League victory in the Dons’ pool.
The Chargers, ranked No. 3 in CIF’s Div. I, led 5-2 at halftime and 7-3 at the end of the third quarter, taking away any suspense from the highly anticipated crosstown matchup against No. 8 Santa Barbara.
Dos Pueblos' Derek Shoemaker fakes an overhand shot before lobbing in a goal over Santa Barbara goalie James Stilwell in the fourth quarter to give the Chargers a 10-4 lead.
“We’ve been looking forward to this game all season long,” Racich said, remembering DP’s two losses to Santa Barbara last year. “Yea, this one felt good.”
Racich finished with five scores and Derek Shoemaker tallied two goals, three steals, an assist and two drawn ejections.
“Chase got the goals but the person who had a dynamic game was Shoemaker,” noted Chargers head coach Chris Parrish. “He played like a league MVP today quite honestly.”
Kevin Cappon takes on a threatening position during Tuesday's Channel League boys water polo clash.
Shoemaker’s most valuable contribution to the cause was his shutdown defense on Santa Barbara’s leading scorer Brendan Kerwin-McElroy.
Kerwin-McElroy recorded a team-high three goals, but, like DP’s Kevin Cappon, was in foul trouble for much of the game. The senior still managed to score two of the Dons’ first three goals, the first coming on a penalty shot on the Dons’ very first possession of the game to make it 1-0 in favor of the hosts.
The Chargers held Santa Barbara scoreless over the next 10 minutes of playing time while Racich took advantage of repeated good looks to collect his four-first half scores.
Enzo Wolfe broke Racich’s streak by back-handing a ball past DP goalie Brady Moore with 3:05 left in the second quarter. Conner Cleary quickly responded for DP, shaking off two Dons defenders to score 18 seconds later.
Cleary and Shoemaker scored first in the third quarter to open up a 7-2 lead for the Chargers before Kerwin-McElroy got one back for Santa Barbara.
“We didn’t play our most efficient game or our cleanest game,” said Dons head coach Mark Walsh. “We had a lot of offensive mistakes that led to easy goals for them.”
Santa Barbara’s offense did come alive in the final period, as Ken Myers, Nick Johnson and Kerwin-McElroy found the back of the cage.
Cleary finished with three goals and Cappon recorded two scores in limited minutes.
The Chargers are now 16-4 overall and 4-0 in league. Santa Barbara is 12-8 and 3-2 in league. The two schools meet again next Tuesday at Elings Aquatic Center.
DOS PUEBLOS 11, SANTA BARBARA 6
Dos Pueblos 3 2 2 4 — 11
Santa Barbara 1 1 1 3 — 6
DP Scores: Racich 5, Shoemaker 2, Cleary 3, Cappon 2. SB Scores: Kerwin-McElroy 3, Johnson, Myers, Wolfe. DP Goalie Saves: Moore 3. SB Goalie Saves: Stilwell 6.
