Championship season ends for San Marcos water polo in first round of the SoCal Regional

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - San Marcos won a CIF-SS Division 2 boys water polo championship with terrific defense but the Royals could not slow down Aidan Johnson and Classical Academy of Escondido.

The Caimans rallied to edge San Marcos 15-14 in a CIF-SoCal Regional Division 2 first round game.

Johnson scored a game-high 6 goals including the game-tying and game-winning goals, the final one coming with just over a minute to play.

This was a wild postseason game.

San Marcos scored the final four goals of the first half to grab a 6-4 lead.

Senior Nic Prentice had back-to-back goals to start the run, he finished with 3 goals.

The first half highlight was sophomore reserve Jack Kramer scoring to snap a 4-4 tie.

Kramer didn't get to play much during their playoff run so to play and score in a SoCal Regional put a smile on his face.

The Royals surged out to a 9-5 lead in the third quarter and looked like they were taking control of the game.

But the Caimans roared back with five straight goals to end the third quarter including a buzzer beater by Benny Lepine.

San Marcos went back out in front 13-11 on goals by Will Stuart and Jacob Magid who had a team-high 4 goals.

After the visitors tied it at 13, Royals senior Luke Burns scored his second goal of the game with over two minutes left in the game.

But the Royals defense had no answer for Johnson who made sure the Caimans had a happy trip back home to Escondido.

For San Marcos they end a fabulous season at 25-11 which includes their first CIF-Southern Section title since 1994.