San Marcos paid dearly for a slow start and lost a key Channel League water polo match at home against Buena, 11-7, on Tuesday at the Royals’ pool.
The Royals fell behind 5-1 late in the second period and never recovered. They managed to pull within a goal at 6-5 in the third period, but mistakes and missed opportunities prevented them from overtaking the Bulldogs (16-6, 2-4).
The loss all but ends San Marcos’ shot at the CIF playoffs, as Buena won both meetings.
But the Royals didn’t go down without a battle.
“We had some bad moments, but we did some good things, too,” San Marcos coach Jeff Ashton said. “We lost by a goal at their pool and we were hoping to get that back today.”
San Marcos made its move just before halftime when Tyler Lisea scored just before the buzzer to make it 5-2.
Andre Rivera fed Lisea at 6:14 of the third period and Rivera followed with his second goal of the game to make it 5-4 at the 5:19 mark.
“We jump on them a little bit and then we let them back into it,” Buena coach Mark Garrett said. “We wanted to make it interesting and let them have their fun. It’s the nature of the kids. They lose track of the situation. They recomposed themselves and did fine.”
Mike Alstott ended San Marcos’ scoring run with his second goal of the game. He scored four goals to share scoring honors with Ben Gossard.
“He’s been a varsity starter since he was a sophomore,” Garrett said of the burly Alstott, who set up two other goals. “I really think highly of him. He’s our team captain. The kids really respect his style of play. He keeps moving, he keeps hustling.”
The Royals kept the pressure on and cut the lead to 6-5 when Travis Johnson unleashed a rocket that the Buena goalkeeper blocked but couldn’t keep out of the net.
Asked what he told his team after the Royals rallied, Garrett said, tongue firmly in cheek, “I’d rip their lungs out if they scored any more.”
Johnson almost scored again, but his outside shot slammed off the cross bar.
The Bulldogs did regroup and made sure Johnson wouldn’t hurt them any more.
“Travis tried really hard, but they had three guys on him the whole time,” said Ashton.
The Bulldogs scored the next three goals — two by Ryan Trude — to put the game away.
Lisea and Rivera each had two goals for San Marcos (10-16, 0-6).
