Boys water polo: Archie Williams set for MCAL title rematch with Redwood

Everyone seems excited to see the biggest rematch of the season in MCAL pools, with pride, history and a championship all on the line Saturday.

Second-seeded Archie Williams High earned a shot at redemption against rival and No. 1 seed Redwood in the MCAL boys water polo championship, to be hosted by Tam High. The Peregrine Falcons defeated No. 3 Tam, 12-8, in Wednesday’s late MCAL semifinal.

Redwood handed Archie Williams its only loss of the MCAL slate, 9-4, on Oct. 19 in a match that decided the seeding for the playoffs. Prior to that game, the Giants’ last win over Falcons came in the 2014 MCAL playoffs, 9-6.

“Archie Williams has some excellent players. They have the pedigree and they’ve played for the title before,” said Tam coach Steve Lacy. “Redwood is a powerhouse. They are incredibly strong. It will be a great game.”

Archie Williams head coach Matt Swanson is eager for the chance to play Redwood again, but he remains cautiously optimistic about the matchup.

“We’re piecing things together,” Swanson said. “It’s going to be a chess match.”

Swanson and his counterpart at Redwood, coach Rudy Kardos, scouted each other’s teams during Wednesday’s semifinals, although they know each other well enough by now that was hardly necessary.

Archie Williams used a strong start to build an early lead, then held on for a wild ride to victory and the finals.

“We just pressed, pressed and pressed,” Swanson said. “We wanted to control the pace of the match.”

Frankey Fradelizio got the Peregrine Falcons going with two first-quarter goals on his way to a three-goal night. Mac Berry also scored three times for the Peregrine Falcons and Micah Sher added two goals, while Lucas Silva tallied one goal.

After the teams traded goals to start the game, Fradelizio scored on a short skipper to give the Peregrine Falcons a 2-1 lead, which they never surrendered. Archie Williams extended its lead to 6-2 by halftime, and seemed to have everything well in hand.

“It took us a little too long to adjust to how the game was being called,” Lacy said. “Archie Williams, to their credit, came out strong and kept pressuring us. We couldn’t get the pressure on them.”

Gabe Hirner’s shot from outside the perimeter sent the home crowd into a frenzy as Tam closed the gap to 6-3 in the third quarter. A minute later, Mac Berry split the Tam defense as he sent the ball screaming up broadway and past goalkeeper Rory Flynn to restore the Falcons’ four-goal lead.

Tam mounted a dramatic fourth-quarter rally, but against two opponents — Archie Williams and the clock — it wasn’t enough. Tam’s Quin Concannon rose up high out of the water to slam dunk the ball into the net past the Peregrine Falcons’ Haakon Lacy, who played with the U.S. National under-16 team in the summer.

Berry returned the favor with a power shot of his own as Archie Williams led 10-5 with six minutes left to play. Billy Baker extended the Falcons’ lead a minute later with a goal right down the middle of the pool.

That’s when Tam seemed to find a spark, but it was too little, too late after falling into a six-goal hole. Zach Pollack scored twice within 30 seconds and Concannon sent a loose ball spinning into the net for another goal with 2:33 left to play.

Pollack led the way for Tam with four goals and Concannon and Hirner each finished with two goals.

“We didn’t score enough goals early when we had opportunities,” Lacy said. “You can’t expect to come back from a big deficit like that.”

Baker spoiled Tam’s run with his fourth goal of the night after which Lacy emptied his net in favor of an extra attacker for the final two minutes. For a moment, there seemed to be some magic for the Hawks, but it faded as time ran out.

“Our season isn’t over,” Lacy said. “We still have North Coast Section, and maybe we’ll see Archie Williams again, depending on the brackets.”