High pressure defense from Dos Pueblos gave San Marcos a hard time in Wednesday’s Channel League water polo opener at the Elings Aquatic Center.
Grant Schroeder rises out of the water for a shot during DP's 12-4 win over San Marcos. (Vince Agapito photo)
The Chargers forced their crosstown rivals into several turnovers, which they converted into counterattack goals in a 12-4 romp.
“We played really well defensively today, our starting group, DP goalie Phillip Bates said.
Time and again, DP’s tight defense forced the Royals to lose the ball and created one on one situations against goalie Parker Woodward.
Charger team captain Sjors Van Alphen said the game plan was “to press and come back and help the (hole) set when the set was open.”
Dos Pueblos opened a 12-0 lead after three quarters and appeared to be headed for a rare shutout.
“We were all thinking shutout. Parrish has never had a shutout,” Bates said.
San Marcos avoided the goose egg when Shane Hauschild barely got a shot past Bates with 5:54 left in the fourth period. He scored three of the Royals’ goals.
DP was led by freshman Blake Parrish with five goals, Nic Lum added three and Van Alphen and Grant Schroeder scored two apiece.
“It was a pretty disappointing start,” San Marcos coach Jeff Ashton said. “We just couldn’t get anything going. They were pressing the heck out of us and basically our guys couldn’t deal with it.”
After salvaging a win in its final game of last weekend’s Santa Barbara Invitational, Dos Pueblos (2-6) will take a two-game winning streak into the South Coast Tournament in Newport Beach this weekend.
San Marcos dropped its second straight game and is now 8-3.
