San Marcos was unable to create many power play opportunities and that led to a 10-5 loss at Foothill in a CIF Division 1 first-round girls water polo playoff match on Wednesday.
“We only drew five ejections going into the fourth period and they had nine,” San Marcos coach Chuckie Roth said. “A lot of our offense comes off six on fives. If we’re not drawing a lot of ejections, it’s going to be tough to win.”
The Royals, who were coming off an impressive wild-card win on Tuesday against Redondo, couldn’t match the size and speed of Foothill, the champion of the Century League.
“We definitely competed. They were just faster, stronger and bigger. It is what it is,” said Roth.
The Royals fell behind 4-0 in the first period, with three of the goals coming on power plays.
San Marcos fought back and cut the deficit to 5-3 by halftime.
“We were in it, but they came out after halftime and got back-to-back goals,” said Roth.
The Royals also suffered a big blow when senior Rose Koper got whistled for her third ejection and could no longer play.
“Most of their ejections came on counters. They were faster than us,” Roth said.
Hannah Koper scored two goals to lead the Royals. Brittny Hummel, Halie Johnson and Rose Koper each had one. Goalie Alex Brown made six saves.
Roth praised the play of Johnson. “She played one her best games of the year, She played really big,” he said.
Despite the first-round elimination, Roth said he was proud of what the team accomplished this season. They finished the year at 19-12.
“At the beginning of the year, we had no goalie and one of our best players quit the team,” he said. “We ended up being the first (San Marcos) team to be ranked in the top 10 (in Division 1), we took the consolation title at the Southern California Championships. This was a great year. The kids played way over their potential. As a coach, I couldn’t be more proud. I would trade them for anybody.”
the last line of this article does say “I would trade them for anybody”…