Santa Maria was hoping for its first league win before season/s end.

Lompoc was looking to position itself for a CIF Playoff berth.

Tuesday at Paul Nelson Pool, the Saints used a second-half surge to notch a 10-5 Los Padres League victory in their final league match.

&#8220It/s really nice (to get a league win) because we match up well with Lompoc,C said Santa Maria coach Adrian Salazar. &#8220They have a couple of good guys who shoot the ball well and we have three guys who shoot the ball well. So we have one extra guy and that made the difference for us.C

For the Braves 7 a team playing with heavy hearts because of the deaths of two of their classmates and serious injuries to a third (see story above) 7 it all but eliminated them from playoff contention despite one game remaining on their schedule against Nipomo, the team that holds a one-game lead on them.

&#8220They will go with the tie. We draw numbers in the beginning of the season and they/ve got better number,C said Lompoc coach Kevin Hicks, whose squad drops to 2-5 in LPL play with a Thursday finale at Nipomo. &#8220Our chance at CIF had to be in the water.C

Senior Jared Zimmer made an big impact in the water for the Saints, netting a game-high five goals and playing strong on both sides of the ball.

&#8220He/s probably our overall best player because he hustles all the time and it/s noticeable when he does,C said Salazar of Zimmer. &#8220For example today, he was our sprinter and he probably won all four sprints. He also played a little bit of set defense and had four steals when I was here.

&#8220And we also saw him setting a little bit. Being able to change it up like that with him is nice,C the coach added. &#8220That/s a big asset in water polo.C

Kyle Ericksen tallied a team-high three goals for Lompoc, which jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on the Saints in the first quarter. But Santa Maria tied things up in the second quarter with a pair of goals by Zimmer.

&#8220We beat them before … so we knew we could take them again,C said Zimmer.

Lompoc reclaimed the lead on Beau Mabery/s strike with 4:04 remaining until halftime. The Saints, however, retaliated with two of their own 7 both coming from Antonio McNeil 7 to take a 4-3 edge at the break.

Santa Maria (1-5, 5-14) stepped its play up a notch in the second half and pulled away by outscoring the Braves 6-2 through the final two quarters.

&#8220We played better as a team. We played together well. We moved more,C said Zimmer. &#8220We finish off the season with a win so that/s good.C

After Adam Lesmister opened the third-quarter scoring for Santa Maria, Ericksen found the back of the net to keep the Braves within striking distance.

But the Saints netted the next three goals to extend to an 8-4 advantage at the end of the third quarter. Zimmer had a pair of goals during the run, while teammate Rome Rieger scored the other.

&#8220They just started playing defense well,C said Salazar. &#8220So having that, it allowed them to create something on offense and to take a little bit of a chance on offense.C

Santa Maria continued to pull away in the fourth quarter with two straight to start on goals by McNeil and Zimmer. Lompoc did not quit, though, as Ericksen netted his third goal off a feed from Sam Holt.

&#8220They definitely outhustled us today,C said Hicks. &#8220They were more active offensively. They played some good defense on us and we need to shoot better.C

The Braves were plagued by 16 missed shots and 18 turnovers.

&#8220That/s way too many. … It/s a frustrating and disappointing loss. If we/d won, we/d still have a chance (at CIF). Now we don/t,C said Hicks. &#8220We have to play better than this. We have to correct these two things and we have to give Santa Maria credit. They hustled in the second half and they shot well.C

Sports writer Scott Forstner can be reached at 739-2235 or by e-mail at sforstner@santamariatimes.com

November 2, 2005