<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3djggU_0vMVrVBJ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3djggU_0vMVrVBJ00" width="2000" height="1389" ><figcaption>San Marcos' Will Stuart rises out of the water for a shot in Thursday's victory. Stuart scored a team-high four goals against Redlands. (Lily Chubb / Noozhawk Photo)</figcaption></figure>San Marcos opened up the Santa Barbara Boys Water Polo Invitational with a commanding 15-5 victory over Redlands East Valley on a sweltering Thursday afternoon at Elings Aquatic Center. The lopsided win vaulted the Royals to the winners’ bracket, setting up a matchup against Laguna Beach at Elings Aquatic Center on Friday at 1:15 p.m. The local tournament features 22 teams from all across Southern California, including top 50 teams in the state in Corona Del Mar (9th), Carlsbad (32nd) and San Marcos (40th). “We’ve been training a lot in these last couple of weeks so it’s nice to see it all come together in today’s game,” Royals coach Peera Sukavivatanachai said. “Hopefully it’s a good jump-off point for us for the tournament. “There is a lot of strong competition ahead and we’re ready for the challenge. Laguna should be a pretty strong team for us to compete against.” San Marcos got on the board first when Jake Magid found Christian Yonker for a goal in the opening minute of play. However, Redlands dominated the next four minutes, scoring three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead with 2:54 left in the first. “It was a little bit of an adjustment period in that first quarter, we haven’t seen them and we didn’t really know what to expect,” Sukavivatanachai said. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4Kp8PJ_0vMVrVBJ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4Kp8PJ_0vMVrVBJ00" width="1024" height="729" ><figcaption>San Marcos goalie Sam Rich had 15 saves and chipped in several assists in an all-around effort on Thursday. (Lily Chubb / Noozhawk Photo)</figcaption></figure>The Royals then settled in thanks to Will Stuart, who leaked out behind the defense on back-to-back possessions and found the back of the net both times to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the second quarter. The San Marcos defense found its groove after surrendering the three early goals, shutting out the Wildcats in the second quarter as the offense did its part. Stuart stayed hot to begin the second, taking the pass from Hudson Macleod and scoring to give the Royals a 4-3 advantage with 6:20 left in the first half. San Marcos held the lead for the remainder of the matchup. Magid then got in on the scoring with a breakaway goal before the Royals converted a pair of penalty shots by Stuart and Yonker to go up 7-3. Just before halftime, San Marcos’ Indiana Roth lofted a shot that hit off the crossbar and floated straight to Yonker, who put it in the goal and gave the Royals an 8-3 lead at the halftime break. “We adjusted pretty well going into the last three quarters,” Sukavivatanachai said of his team after the slow start. The third period was more of the same for the Royals, who outscored Redlands 3-0 with goals coming from Alden Klein, Magid and Roth. Klein and Magid’s goals were off breakaways while Roth took advantage of an empty cage and scored on a shot from ¾ pool length. A bulk of the San Marcos scoring throughout the day came in the transition game as goalie Sam Rich converted several pool-length passes to turn strong defense into quick offense. “We’re fast in transition, fast in the exchange and obviously Sam giving those outlet passes puts us in a really, really good spot,” Sukavivatanachai said. At the end of three quarters, the Royals stood comfortably in front by a score of 11-3. From there, San Marcos fended off the Wildcats en route to the win while the offense continued to pile it on. Magid netted a pair of goals in the final period while Macleod and Roth capped off the scoring to bring the final score to 15-5. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4BIYaG_0vMVrVBJ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4BIYaG_0vMVrVBJ00" width="1024" height="688" ><figcaption>Jake Magid applies pressure to the Redlands player in Thursday’s tournament-opening matchup. Magid scored four goals in the win. (Lily Chubb / Noozhawk Photo)</figcaption></figure>Stuart and Magid led the Royals in scoring with four goals apiece while Yonker scored three of his own. “Will (Stuart) and Jake (Magid) are extremely confident, they were the most dominant players in the game,” Sukavivatanachai said. “They were controlling and their presence was felt everytime they were in that water… They also did a good job at setting up our younger guys too. “Christian Yonker, a freshman, did a fantastic job and was aggressive as well.” <h2>Carlsbad 9, Dos Pueblos 8</h2>The Chargers dropped their first game of the weekend tournament to Carlsbad, 9-8. Despite the loss, Dos Pueblos coach Chris Parrish was satisfied with the way his team competed against the high-level program. “We knew we were going to be overmatched, they were much bigger and more experienced so we were just looking to go out there and get a couple of victories within the game rather than just trying to win the game,” Parrish said. “Carlsbad is a pretty good team and for us to be able to stay within one goal is kind of a victory in itself for us.” The Chargers are now slotted into the round-robin section of the tournament with their next game coming against Redlands East Valley on Friday at 11 a.m. at San Marcos. “I think we’re probably in the right section of the tournament now,” Parrish said. “Now we’re going to be able to round robin with a bunch of good teams and try and get some more experience and see what we can do.” After Dos Pueblos’ Grant Nelson broke the scoreless tie with a penalty goal in the opening minute of play, Carlsbad ripped off four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead after the opening quarter. The Chargers inched closer in the second thanks to a nifty spinning goal by Nelson and an outside shot that found the back of the net by Lucas Neushul. The two teams then traded goals with both Dos Pueblos scores coming from Ben Fuhrer, bringing the score to 6-5 in favor of Carlsbad at halftime. “Ben played a really good game on the defensive end and did a lot of good things for us, he was a key for even the offense,” Parrish said. Nelson continued his strong performance with a goal off an assist by Neushul to tie the game up at the 6:19 mark in the third period. However, the Carlsbad defense buckled down and held the Chargers scoreless for the rest of the quarter. Heading into the fourth and final period, Carlsbad held onto an 8-6 advantage. Neushul tried to will the Chargers to victory with a pair of impressive goals from the outside, but Carlsbad added one more goal to get just enough to pull out the win at 9-8. Nelson and Neushul were at the forefront of the action all game, scoring three goals apiece. “Lucas is very, very aware and Grant just has some natural gifts to be able to put the ball in the goal,” Parrish said. </div></body>

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SB Boys Water Polo Invitational Day 1: San Marcos Cruises to 15-5 Win Over Redlands

San Marcos opened up the Santa Barbara Boys Water Polo Invitational with a commanding 15-5 victory over Redlands East Valley on a sweltering Thursday afternoon at Elings Aquatic Center. The lopsided win vaulted the Royals to the winners’ bracket, setting up a matchup against Laguna Beach at Elings Aquatic Center...

SB Boys Water Polo Invitational Day 1: San Marcos Cruises to 15-5 Win Over Redlands

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