Los Alamitos denied Santa Barbara’s girls water polo team a two-win day to open the Tournament of Champions, defeating the Dons 11-5 in their second game on Friday.
Santa Barbara overcame Agoura 9-6 earlier to reach the quarterfinals.
“We weren’t at our best, and I think they played really well so I thought we were lucky to get that win,” said Dons head coach Mark Walsh, TOC organizer for the 11th year.
Makenzy Fowler’s three goals were a team-high against the Chargers while Kelsey O’Brien and Leah Gonzales led Santa Barbara in the second game with two goals apiece.
The Dons only produced one 6-on-5 opportunity the whole match against Los Alamitos and found themselves in an 8-2 hole by halftime.
“They shot lights out against us,” Walsh said of Los Alamitos, which meets league foe Newport Harbor in one of Saturday’s semifinals. “We were going to have to play almost perfect to beat them.”
Santa Barbara can forget about Friday’s loss with a win against their next opponent Palos Verdes, which beat the Dons 6-5 in the seventh-place game at the Holiday Cup two weeks ago.
