With a smothering defense and a relentless attack, the Cabrillo boys water polo team made quick work of host Santa Maria at the Paul Nelson Pool 7 scoring the first 14 goals of Tuesday afternoon/s 20-3 victory in the league opener for both squads.

"In a game like this, that/s kind of what we wanted to do," said Conqs coach Joel Jory of his team/s strong start. "Coming in, we kind of knew everybody would play. … We slowed things down in the second half."

But the defense remained just as stingy 7 not allowing the Saints (0-1, 3-9) to mount much of an attack. The Conquistadores tallied 23 steals as a team 7 led by six from Joey Gullickson and four from Daniel McNutt 7 compared to only eight turnovers.

"That/s our goal 7 to start everything off the defense," said Jory. "Our offense only works when the defense is working."

Santa Maria did get its offense going a bit in the second half with Antonio McNeil breaking up the shutout off a feed from teammate Jared Zimmer with 4:05 left in the third quarter.

"Antonio McNeil and Zimmer played very well together. They are two guys who don/t stop and fight until the end," said Saints coach Adrian Salazar.

But the quick-strike Conquistadores continued to pour it on 7 regularly finding the back of the net on their first shot off a sweet passing combination.

"Early on we drew three ejections. … We came out 0-for-3 on them," said Salazar. "If we would/ve had a stronger man up, it could have given us a little more confidence. 0-for-3 doesn/t cut it."

Instead, the Conquistadores (1-0, 8-9) jumped ahead early with Ethan Hadley netting three of his four goals in the opening period.

Gullickson and Nick Darling tallied five goals a piece to lead the Cabrillo goal-scoring, while Byron Mikowicz recorded four goals and Wesley Hain added two more in the winning effort. Gullickson also had a team-high five assists with Darling picking up three.

"Early on, we were pretty sharp," said Jory, whose squad will host Lompoc next on Thursday night. "We get to play under the lights, so that/s kind of fun for the kids."

The Conqs are finally getting two key players back in the mix after doing without their services until this past weekend.

"We went to some good tournaments. We/ve been shorthanded early on," said Jory. "Last weekend was the first time we were at full strength. Even though this is midseason, we/re still working thing outs."

The Saints got a pair of goals from Mason Turner in the second half, but never threatened the defending Los Padres League champions.

"We have a senior group, but we/re not as strong, not as deep as we/d like to be. We only have one guy off the bench," said Salazar. "(Playing Cabrillo in the opener), it gives us an opportunity to see how good some of our plays are versus the best team in league. We have to do a little refining."

"They are a really good team. They are playing well together.," added Salazar of the Conqs. "They are a strong team and it was an eye opener for us."

Up next, the Saints will host Nipomo on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Paul Nelson Pool.

"That/s a big match," said Salazar. "We/ve beat them the past three years and last year that was the match that it came down to for who got into the playoffs."

The Saints received an at-large bid into the CIF Playoffs last season, and "our goal is to be there again," said Salazar.

Santa Ynez 14, Lompoc 7

At Santa Ynez, in the league opener the Pirates led 11-3 at halftime and floated in from there.

The Pirates Bobby Geiger netted a game-high five goals to lead the host Pirates to victory in their LPL opener against the Braves.

"We/re 0-13 but we/re creating more man-ups," pointed out Lompoc coach Kevin Hicks. "But we/re not converting. We missed 15 shots. But we are creating things. We just need to put them away.

"If our guys stay with it we/ll win some games."

Sam Holt scored five times, Beau Mabery and Kyle Ericksen once each for Lompoc, sophomore Brad Deegan led the team with five steals, and goalie Kolten White pulled down nine blocks.

Santa Ynez (1-0, 8-7) also received goals from Hunter Hamaker (three), Fabiano Reuter (two), Cassidy Ozimic (two), Ian Blumenthal (one), and PJ Perez (one).

The Braves play at Cabrillo at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

October 5, 2005