Mason Pereira scores the second goal for Santa Barbara. (Vince Agapito Photos)
Santa Barbara fell behind early and Huntington Beach never let up on the Dons and eliminated them, 16-3, in the first round of the CIF Division 1 water polo playoffs on Wednesday.
The Oilers opened up a 6-0 lead after the first period and didn’t give up a goal until the third period.
Tiki Toplak, Huntington Beach’s two-meter man, gave the Dons fits all afternoon. He finished with three goals and continually set up teammates for goals.
“We could not stop their leading scorer and when we helped on him from the perimeter, we could not stop them from scoring from the outside,” said Santa Barbara coach Mark Walsh, whose team ended the season at 18-12.
Max Schultz led a balanced Huntington Beach scoring attack with four goals and Jordan Lisnock added three. Huntington Beach improved to 22-6.
“Defense is about effort and we did not have enough to hang with the No. 6 team in Orange County,” said Walsh.
Walsh cleared his bench in the fourth period and JV call-ups Mason Pereira and Tyler Heffernan scored goals. Evan Robertson also scored.
It was the final game for seniors Mark Davis and Enzo Wolfe.
