Santa Barbara High’s girls water polo ran into a Foothill team that could do no wrong in the quarterfinals of the Irvine Southern California Championships.
The Dons fell behind 4-0 in the first period, trailed 7-2 at halftime and wound losing 10-5 at Foothill’s pool on Friday.
“We were just never able to get going,” Santa Barbara coach Mark Walsh said. “I thought (Foothill) just played really well. They played better than I ever seen them play.”
It was the third time this season the Dons lost to Foothill (21-3). They fell by one goal (7-6) in the finals of the Holiday Cup and lost by two (6-4) in a preseason game.
“We had a lot of (scoring) opportunities but their opportunities were better than ours,” said Walsh.
Kelsey O’Brien scored two goals and had two steals and Charlotte Hendrix had two goals and drew three ejections.
The Dons (17-6) return to action at 8 a.m. Saturday against Edison in a fifth-place semifinal.
