San Marcos’ Brittany Prentice catches a pass in scoring position directly in front of the Villa Park cage.
San Marcos’ girls water polo team bounced Villa Park from the CIF Division-1 playoff on Wednesday in a 17-8 decision in Santa Barbara.
The Royals deployed many of their younger players for the first two and a half quarters and trailed 6-5 early in the third period. Once San Marcos head coach Chuckie Roth inserted his regulars, the Royals took off on a 12-2 run to finish the game.
Junior Megan Bergthold scored three times in the final quarter as San Marcos – the division’s No. 4 seed – asserted its control.
“Once (the starters) got in, we just wanted to go all out and really show that we were in control of the game,” Bergthold said. “It was a little nervewracking to be on the bench watching the score be so close, so as soon as all the starters got in, we wanted to show all that we had.”
San Marcos’ Paige Hauschild led all scorers with four goals while Lauren Speicher and Sheila Karimi recorded a team-high three goals each for Villa Park.
One of San Marcos’ younger players to get an extended look in CIF competition was sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Powell. The JV call-up saw action in every quarter.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking but I’m really glad that Chuckie let me play because it’s a good experience for me,” Powell said. “It’s a lot different than JV. It’s a lot more faster, a lot more organized, and they shoot harder.”
Roth said he wasn’t sure how long he could stick with his second unit when the Spartans took a 3-0 lead out of the gates.
“I thought in the beginning – we gave up two quick goals – it didn’t look very good. But then all the kids stepped up and rose to the occasion,” Roth said.
San Marcos lost the pre-flip and will travel to Orange County on Saturday for a quarterfinal matchup against fifth-seeded Los Alamitos in a match that will be played at Newport Harbor High School.
SAN MARCOS 17, VILLA PARK 8
VP 3 2 1 3 – 8
SM 3 2 5 7 – 17VP Goals – Speicher 3, Karimi 3, Bradshaw 1, Portales 1
SM Goals – Bergthold 3, Heiduk 3, Hauschild 4, Prentice 1, Johnson 3, Kuesis 2, Purling 1.
