Santa Barbara High goalie Justyn Barrios makes a save on a penalty shot by Blake Parrish, the game’s leading scorer. (Presidio Sports Photos)
The biggest play of the game for Santa Barbara High may have also led to the Dons’ downfall in Tuesday’s 13-11 loss to Dos Pueblos in a Channel League game.
Adam Gross had just given the youthful Dons a 10-8 lead late in the third quarter when Santa Barbara goalie Justyn Barrios blocked a penalty shot by Dos Pueblos star Blake Parrish. The crowd let go its loudest cheer of the game and the Dons players pumped their fists as the collision force of the block sent the ball 25 feet up into the air.
“I figured since he was right-handed he would go to the right side, so I focused my energy on my left arm,” Barrios explained.
The Dons were feeling pretty good at that point, up two goals at home against the No. 6 team in CIF Division 2.
But just a couple of minutes later, Dos Pueblos held a 12-10 lead after Parrish scored four of his game-high eight goals in quick succession.
“Justyn made that penalty stop and I felt like we were celebrating too much like we just won the game,” said Dons head coach Mark Walsh. “They scored two quick ones and I think we let up a little bit there.”
Santa Barbara High’s Sawyer Rhodes led the Dons with four goals.
Walsh said it was a good learning experience for his young team, which has four starters that are freshmen or sophomores. Barrios made another save, a point-blank shot by Dylan Elliott, in the fourth quarter to give the Dons a chance at the upset.
Henry Hepp scored at the 1:30 mark of the fourth quarter to bring Santa Barbara back to within one at 12-11, but Elliott was left wide open and scored on DP’s next possession to put the game away.
“It wasn’t really the goal scoring that got us pumped up, it was in the fourth quarter we knew we played better defense,” Parrish said.
Dos Pueblos’ league record now stands at 3-1 while the Dons fall to 2-3. The Chargers, ranked No. 6 in CIF Division 2, trailed the unranked Dons 4-1 in the first period and didn’t take the lead for good until the final period.
“Frankly I was out-coached the first three periods,” said Chargers head coach Chris Parrish. “They just had a great game-plan. They came in, they neutralized players, and, coupled with some really bad shots and bad decisions that we made, just fed right into what they were doing.”
Parrish was pleased with a stronger defensive effort in the final quarter as Santa Barbara was held to just one goal over the final nine minutes of the game.
“Once your defense is playing really well, the offense really opens up because the other team really has to press to get that,” Parrish said. “So once we got tied at 10-10, and we were playing good defense, I felt a lot more secure knowing that we’re going to generate a few more goals.”
The younger Parrish carried the Chargers with his scoring. Most of his goals came with two or three defenders within arms length. He bulled through two defenders to score the fourth quarter’s first goal, which broke the 10-10 tie.
“Going up in the fourth quarter was a big deal,” Blake Parrish said.
On DP’s next possession, Parrish took a pass from Kelly Reynolds and made a determined effort to score again.
“It kind of turned into converting on offense and having a good balanced offense, and transitioning all the way down to stop easy goals the other way,” Parrish said.
Sawyer Rhodes led Santa Barbara High in scoring with four goals.
The Chargers face San Marcos next Tuesday while Santa Barbara plays in a non-league match against Righetti on Thursday.
DOS PUEBLOS 13, SANTA BARBARA 11
DP 3 4 3 3 – 13
SB 4 3 3 1 – 11
DP Goals – Parrish 8, Elliott 2, Reynolds, Peacock, Gustason
SB Goals – Rhodes 4, Gross 3, Rottman 2, Bartholomew, Hepp
