The always exuberant Chucky Roth, coach of the SBCC women’s water polo team, said at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon that his team suffered a loss last weekend and he was happy about it.
“Usually I’m not too excited about losing, but this was great,” said Roth of the 14-13 defeat to Riverside at the Riverside Tournament. “I’m really happy that we lost. I stayed up till like 11:30, which for me is really, really late, watching video, and I’m super excited.”
He took a break from the team’s morning workout to attend the luncheon, talk about his team and introduce players Kara Hughes and Jenna Olson.
“The girls needed to lose that game because I watched the way we played that game, and we have a lot to learn. You always learn more from a loss than you do a win. So I’m really excited to go back and watch that video because I think it’s going to breed some future growth, which I think we need to do what we did last year.”
SBCC won the Western State Conference, the Southern California Regional, made the State Final and finished as runner-up.
Hughes and Olson were part of last year’s successful squad.
Hughes picked up the nickname “Uzi,” because the players thought that’s what Roth was calling her, when he was actually saying “Hughesy.”
“I don’t even call her Kara. Someone referred to her as Kara the other day and I didn’t know who it was,” cracked Roth.
After seeing limited action last season, Hughes has become a key player for the Vaqueros. “She’s already scored eight goals this season and has done a great job for us. She’s just a student of the game and has learned a lot,” said Roth.
Hughes won’t be finishing out her sophomore season as she’ll be going on a church mission in January, Roth noted.
“That was always the plan,” he said. “We’re down to the last two-and-half months of me being involved in her life at this point. I just want to express my appreciation of what a great person and role model you are for the team.”
Olson made a name for herself at SBCC after leaving Sonoma State. She earned All-American and all-conference honors, “and was arguably one of the best players at this level in the country,” said Roth.
Olson didn’t have the best weekend shooting the ball at Riverside, “but there’s nobody I trust more to have the ball in their hands than Jenny. Of all the athletes I’ve coached, she’s one of the top five shooters I’ve ever coached in my life.”
Olson also was an all-conference swimmer during the spring.
SBCC FOOTBALL
The Vaqueros rode a great first half to a 35-20 win at West L.A.
“We came out and played just about a perfect half,” said coach Craig Moropoulos of the 35-7 lead the Vaqueros held going into the locker room.
In the second half, he said the team “got a little full of itself” and gave up a couple of scores.
“We didn’t do the things we were doing in the first half,” said Moropoulos.
The Vaqueros still got out of Culver City with their second win in three games.
Moropoulos recognized center Damien Roberts of Ontario, Canada and defensive back Luke Edwards of San Luis Obispo.
Roberts switched to center after playing on the defensive line last season.
“He’s really taken it on well and done a great job for us,” said Moropoulos.
The play of Edwards against West L.A. reminded Moropoulos of former University of Arizona star and NFL player Chuck Cecil. Moropoulos was assistant at Arizona when Cecil played in Tucson.
“(Edwards) made some hits on Saturday, just some great plays,” said the coach. “I think once he learns how to harness that energy and focus he’s going to be an outstanding player, and he’s already a good player.”
After two wins on the road, the Vaqueros return home on Saturday and face L.A. Southwest at 1 p.m.
PREP FOOTBALL
Bishop Diego
Athletic Director Aaron Skinner complimented the football team for keeping its focus and staying mentally strong after the campus was evacuated earlier in the week after a hoax call of a shooting at the school.
The Cardinals traveled to Downey on Friday and whipped a strong St. Pius X/St. Matthias Academy team, 26-6. The team was coming off its first loss of the season, a 38-34 heartbreaker against Fresno-Central.
“As (coach Chuckie Roth) said losing will uncover a lot of things that winning will hide,” said Skinner. “Our kids really did address a number of things that were small, little details that made a difference against a good team.”
He said the Cardinals played well in all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams.
Skinner introduced Pasefika Salatielu and Bryan Trejo, the male Athlete of the Week.
Salatielu has become a student of the game and is tearing it up on the defensive and offensive lines.
Trejo is a jack of all trades for the Cardinals. He plays cornerback and nickel back position on defense and is a wide receiver, running back, kicker and return man.
“He does so much for us in all three phases,” said Skinner.
Trejo also played point guard on the CIF-SS championship basketball team last winter and is a highly competitive handball player.
After going 4-1 in the non-league schedule, the Cardinals have a bye this week before opening the rugged Marmonte League next Friday (Sept. 30) against St. Bonaventure at Ventura College.
“That’s going to be a dogfight,” said Skinner.
Dos Pueblos
Hit hard by injuries, players like junior Diego Lopez and senior Armando Trejo stepped up and played well in last Friday night’s loss to a talented Pacifica team.
“Diego played fantastic, made some great open-field tackles on the sidelines, did his job and was recognized Saturday in front of our team for being able to step up to the challenge and the opportunity,” said coach AJ Pateras.
On Trejo, Pateras said when he got the opportunity to be the guy in practice last Monday, he answered the call.
“We said you have to have a full week of practice, and it was his best week of practice,” said Pateras. “And he played a very good game.
“We’re excited that if he keeps stacking these weeks on top of each other, he’s going to finish the year out as a starter on defense.”
Pateras expects starters Brett Jones, Ryan Marsh and David Buso to be back in the lineup for Friday’s game at Channel Islands.
“We’re looking to getting back on the winning track and get our right foot forward. We got a good three-week stretch here, where we feel it’s some of the most important football we get to play this year.”
GIRLS GOLF
Laguna Blanca coach Valerie Yoshimura brought Abby Kim and Jayla Provance, two of the five members on a talented squad. Both players shoot in the 30s for nine holes.
Kim is the team captain, and Yoshimura said she is being wooed by colleges.
The coach said Provance “is cool as a cucumber.
“We play (Santa Barbara Golf Club) and she comes back from a round of 3-under, just like that.”
BOYS WATER POLO
Carpinteria
Coach Stephen Kim brought senior captains Jacob Taff and Justin Main.
When he’s not in the pool blocking shots and making steals, Taff spends time coaching-up the JV goalie.
Main has improved his shooting, making him a more dangerous player. He, too, is like a coach in the water, noted Kim. “I’ll be telling the other boys what’s going on and how to run things and he’ll show them physically because he’s in the water. He shows the young players how to get better quicker.”
The Warriors play Channel League schools Ventura and Buena and Tuesday and Thursday this week.
San Marcos
After a busy week of games, the Royals are coming off a free weekend heading into a big Channel League clash against rival Dos Pueblos at the Elings Aquatic Center at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
They follow that up with the three-day Villa Park Tournament.
“Hopefully, the kids are well rested and recovered and ready to go into this busy week,” said coach Peera Sukavivatanachai.
Dos Pueblos
Senior Cody Pearce and Junior Aiden Bishop are key players for the Chargers.
Athletic Director Dan Feldhaus, speaking for coach Chris Parrish, said Bishop has scored some key goals and played outstanding defense.
On Pearce, he also competes on the varsity wrestling team and is a Channel League champion. As a water polo player, he plays hard-nosed defense, grinds the whole game and never complains.
“He’s always reliable and the team always needs his positive attitude,” said Feldhaus.
The Chargers (9-4 2-0) play at San Luis Obispo on Tuesday before taking on league rival San Marcos on Wednesday at home.
Santa Barbara High
The Dons (14-4 overall) are coming off a 4-2 week, with three of the wins coming at the South Coast Tournament, including one-goal victories over Edison and Mira Costa.
Coach Mark Walsh said he has a young squad in terms of playing experience.
“We do have a lot of seniors, but guys that really had small roles before and now they’re having to develop into really big roles. I’ve been really, really proud of them; I’m more pleased with our progress this year.”
He singled out Ryder Green, who has become a defensive specialist.
“Watching him all week, he’s just covering mistake after mistake that other guys are making and we could be down five goals.“He doesn’t get his name in the paper a lot, but I thought he was outstanding this weekend.”
Freshman goalie Nikita Kolosov has stepped up in place of the injured Jaxon Burford.
“There’s been a lot of times the last couple of weeks where he’s just made some really big saves in key moments; he’s a gamer,” said Walsh. “I can tell he’s really competitive. It might not be the prettiest thing he’s doing, but he’s effective.
“All he cares about, ‘I’m ready to win, coach. I’m ready to win.’ He just has that winner’s mentality, so we’re really excited about him.”
COLLEGE NOTES
It’s big week for UCSB men’s soccer as the Gauchos play a nonconference match at rival Cal Poly on Wednesday and host No. 2-ranked Stanford on Saturday at Harder Stadium.
With the students back on campus, the 4-2-1 soccer team is hoping for a big crowd against the Cardinal.
The women’s soccer team (1-6-3) is home Thursday for a Big West game against Hawaii.
The eighth-ranked men’s water polo team lost at No. 7 Long Beach, 13-10, in its conference opener on Sunday.
The Gauchos (6-4) play at the MPSF Invitational at Stanford this weekend.
After back-to-back sweeps over Georgetown, the UCSB women’s volleyball team opens Big West play Friday at UC San Diego and is at UC Irvine on Saturday.
Westmont’s men’s and women’s soccer teams are rolling. The teams have a combined record of 9-0-3 — the women are 5-0-2 and the men 4-0-1.
Last weekend, Westmont honored retiring men’s soccer coach Dave Wolf with a special ceremony on Friday at Lovik Field and a halftime presentation during Saturday’s 4-0 win over Fresno Pacific at Thorrington Field.
Assistant men’s coach Johnny Whallon said at Friday’s ceremony there was announcement that Lovik Field will undergo a “half a million dollar renovation that will turn the facility into one of the greatest college training centers in the country.”
SBCC Athletic Director LaDeane Hansten said the men’s soccer team is 1-1-2 after drawing with Rio Hondo, 1-1, last Friday. Bart Muns scored his fourth goal in four games for the Vaqueros.
The women’s team suffered its first loss of the season against Fresno to falls to 1-1-3.
Goalkeeper Analea Pule had nine saves in the 1-0 loss.
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