Girls’ water polo: Santa Barbara’s supremacy under threat

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Just in case you’re not privy to the Channel League girls’ water polo scene over the past decade, let me give you a quick refresher course:

Santa Barbara has won at least a share of every league title since 1996 and has won eight Southern Section division titles since 1998. In addition, the Dons have lost only two league matches in the last 11 years, the latest of which came against Dos Pueblos in 2006.

But for the first time in its existence, the Dons enter a league match on Thursday as the underdog. That’s because Dos Pueblos is the next best team in Southern California behind Division I titan Corona del Mar, as far as I’m concerned.

‘I expect it to be real difficult,’ Santa Barbara Coach Mark Walsh said. ‘Kiley Neushul is as good as any high school player and [goalie] Sami Hill fills the cage well. They’re definitely one of the best teams around.’

That’s for sure, but the Dons are pretty well-stocked in the talent department, too. Senior Emily Martin, a 2007 All-CIF second-teamer, has scored a remarkable 41 goals this season and the Dons’ defense played a valuable role in lifting the team to a ninth-place finish in the highly competitive Santa Barbara TOC last weekend.

So, while it’s no longer a given Santa Barbara will win every league game [Ventura is really good, too], there’s still a twinkling of hope. If the Dons can manage to hold the Chargers to under five goals, I think anything’s possible in this one.

-- Austin Knoblauch