Santa Barbara’s Preston Schlagel and Mason Pereira get their arms up on defense
Cristian Bridley scored five times and Nate Hunter handed out five assists as Santa Barbara High’s second-seeded Dons began their CIF run on Thursday with an 18-7 victory over visiting Great Oak.
The Channel League champions imposed their superiority early on, taking a 4-0 lead after the first quarter. Four of Bridley’s five scores came before halftime as the Dons built a comfortable 10-2 lead.
The big cushion allowed Mark Walsh to rest many of his starters in preparation for Saturday’s second round match against either Villa Park or Royal.
“It’s definitely an advantage and it definitely helps rest us up for the next game,” said Dons goalie Gio Goggia.
Some of the Dons players have been dealing with sickness so the easy win was important for them.
“A bunch of us had been really sick this past week, so getting this rest was pretty good so we’re able to be a lot stronger for this coming weekend,” said Dons senior Skyler Matthews.
The Dons had 10 players record goals.
Hunter added three steals and two goals to his statline.
Peter Loomis was Santa Barbara second-leading scorer with three goals.
“I think we all played really well as a team,” Goggia said. “And we brought up three of our JV guys for CIF and I think they played really well with the rest of our team too.”
Preston Shore led Great Oak with four goals.
“He made some good moves tonight and entertained the crowd which is what he likes to do,” said Great Oak head coach Chris Shore. “But he also passed off and drew some penalties for us.”
Paul Davis, Scotty Vasquez and Caleb Anderson also drew praise from their coach.
It’s the sixth straight season Great Oak has reached CIF. The Wolfpack finish their season with a record of 20-11.
SANTA BARBARA 18, GREAT OAK 7
G.O. ? 0 2 2 3 – 7
S.B. ? ?4 6 5 3 – ?18
SB Goals – Bridley 5, Loomis 3, Van Wickle 2, Hunter 2, Hagen, Fristoe, Matthews, Hefferman, Schlagel, Smith
SB Blocks – Goggia 8
GO Goals – Shore 4, Davis 2, Finley
GO Blocks – Kelsey 8
