San Marcos recovered from a rocky third period and pulled out a 12-11 win over visiting Arroyo Grande in a boys water polo season opener on Thursday.
The Royals led 7-4 at halftime but got outscored 5-1 in the third period to fall behind 9-8. In the fourth period, freshman Spencer Wood scored a clutch goal and that forced AG to pull most of its defensive pressure off leading scorer Shane Hauschild.
Hauschild scored eight goals to lead San Marcos.
Ashton praised the defense of Spencer Kemp.
“We were happy to get our first game out and identify some things to work on over the next few weeks,” said Ashton.
The Royals play host to Division 2 No. 8 ranked Damien on Saturday.
Score by Quarter
SM 3 4 1 3 — 12
AG 2 2 5 2 — 11
SM Goal Scorers: Shane Hauschild 8, Miles Cole 2, Sean Nakano-West 1, Spencer Wood 1
SM Goalie Saves: Jack Palmer 4
