Royals in hunt for consolation title at So Cal Championships

Hannah Koper and Rose Koper each scored three goals and Brittny Hummel shut down Cathedral Catholic’s best player in a 9-5 San Marcos girls water polo victory at the Irvine Southern California Championships on Friday.

“It was a really physical game,” San Marcos coach Chuckie Roth said. “Alex Brown blocked a five-meter in the second quarter which would have made it a 3-2.

“We were real patient on offense, we picked our shots wisely; our 6 on 5 worked well and our counter worked really well.

“We’re playing great. It will be fun to win the consolation bracket. That’s our goal at this point.”

The Royals earlier defeated Long Beach Millikan 14-4 behind Hannah Koper’s six goals.

San Marcos got off to a rough start, giving up a goal in the first minute and losing Brittny Hummel to a pair of ejections.

The loss of Hummel seemed to light a fire under the Royals. They responded by making six steals and scored on five of them.

“Her ejection inspired everybody to play better,” said coach Chuckie Roth.

Natalie Chilton, Rose Koper and Amanda Underwood each scored two goals for the Royals. It was the first two varsity goals for Underwood.