The San Marcos defense, Miles Cole on the left, goalie Jack Palmer in the middle, and Adam Fuller, right, defends a shot by Dos Pueblos’ Taylor Gustason. (John Dvorak/Presidio Sports Photos)
San Marcos head coach Jeff Ashton has been talking to his team about all the different kinds of adversity that can occur in a game to disrupt an expected outcome.
So when Dos Pueblos took an early first-quarter lead against the favored Royals in Tuesday’s Channel League match, Ashton was pleased to see his team respond with a five-goal run on its way to an 11-6 victory.
“I felt like we stayed composed,” Ashton said, whose Royals are ranked No. 5 in CIF Division 2.
After falling behind 2-1, the Royals streaked to a 6-2 lead. San Marcos still had a four-goal lead at 7-3 when a clock malfunction stopped the match for a few minutes in the second quarter. It was another curveball that Ashton felt his team handled well.
“They have some good players so you never know. A couple things don’t go your way, or a couple bar-ins, it could go a completely different way so I thought the guys did a good job of staying focused,” Ashton said.
After holding Dos Pueblos scoreless in the third period, San Marcos held a commanding 10-4 lead at the start of the final quarter.
San Marcos was led in scoring by Adam Fuller and Spencer Wood with three goals each.
Spencer Wood thinks about shooting over Dos Pueblos’ Dylan Elliott.
Dylan Elliott scored DP’s first three goals – two on no-look, back-hand shots from two meters – and finished with a game-high four goals. Taylor Gustason scored once and drew three ejections.
“They’re great defensively first of all,” said Chargers head coach Chris Parrish. “I mean, San Marcos is the cream of our league right now and really has a great opportunity to win a division title so we just wanted to come in here and hold our own.”
It was the first meeting between the two teams, who play again on Thursday, October 29. San Marcos faces Ventura next on Thursday while Dos Pueblos hosts Cate on Friday in a non-league game.
