Goalie Ashley Cocklin sparked a huge comeback to help the Santa Barbara Aquatics Club team advance to the final eight at the USA Water Polo Turbo Cup youth tournament at Counselman-Billingsley pool at Indiana University.
The SBAC’s 8th Grade-and-Under girls squad rallied from a 6-3 deficit and defeated Saddleback El Toro (SET) 9-7 in its second bracket-play match. The team earlier blanked Windy City WPC of Chicago 19-0.
SET came out scoring and took a 6-3 lead in the second quarter. Santa Barbara roared back in the second and tied the score 6-6 at half. Cocklin triggered the comeback by stuffing a one-on-one that kept SET from going up 7-3.
Santa Barbara’s pressing defense clicked in the second half as SET scored only one goal in the remaining two quarters. Three goals in the half put Santa Barbara ahead for good.
With the bracket win, the girls are guaranteed a top 8 finish and have an excellent opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals.
The team plays Diablo Water Polo Club of Danville followed by Commerce.
—Story courtesy of Peter Neushul
