Boys water polo: Terra Linda powers up for NCS title win over Marin Academy

An intense championship showdown Saturday could have set the tone for the future of Marin County water polo.

“This rivalry is going to be a tradition going forward,” said Terra Linda coach Geoff Peters, whose top-seeded Trojans defeated No. 2 Marin Academy, 12-6, for the North Coast Section Boys Division II championship. The Trojans now wait for the CIF NorCal seeding results on Sunday.

This is the Trojans’ first NCS Division II Boys pennant on record, according to the Section website, although Terra Linda did reach the finals in 2018, only to fall to Cardinal Newman, 9-8.

“This feels a lot better than when I was at Terra Linda,” Peters said after taking a celebratory dive into the pool with his players. “When I was at TL, we didn’t win a lot. It’s great to help bring back the winning tradition.”

The Wildcats, coming off a runner-up finish to Northgate last year, had set their sights on capturing NCS gold for the first time since 2017.

With the game held at Marin Academy’s new aquatic facility, the Wildcats acted like they had home-pool advantage as Connor Dickinson opened the scoring with a power-play goal 3 minutes into the game. Dickinson scored a team-high four goals.

“Our players played with good energy, but Terra Linda just played better,” Marin Academy head coach Zvi Gvishi said. “Terra Linda is a strong team. Credit to them, they played well.”

Just 30 seconds later, the Trojans evened the score on a goal by Cam Hellar, then teammate Soren Jessen scored the go-ahead goal off a long outlet pass. The two rivals traded goals, with Dickinson and Jessen trying to top each other as each scored three goals in the first quarter, which ended with Terra Linda leading 4-3.

“It was close through the first quarter, and that’s credit to Marin Academy,” Peters said. “They had a great offensive scheme in the first half.”

The future of the Trojans program (14-6) rests solidly with underclassmen Jessen and Hellar, who led Terra Linda with four and three goals, respectively. They’ll have to step up next year to fill the hole left by senior Leo Manwaring-Mueller, who scored two goals in the win. Junior David Finney also scored two goals, while Jack Middleton and Jee Davis each scored a goal.

“Jessen had a great game to establish the hole set and to establish the outside shooting,” Peters said.

Dickinson scored the last goal of the first quarter to cut the Wildcats’ deficit to just one goal, then Tucker Byrne tied the game with a goal scored under heavy pressure almost 2 minutes into the second quarter. The Wildcats retook the lead 5-4, briefly, with a Dickinson score less than a minute later to cap a run of three unanswered goals.

The Trojans found their groove midway through the second quarter, as a Hellar goal sparked a 4-0 run to close the first half. Terra Linda continued its high-speed onslaught in the second half, outscoring Marin Academy, 4-1. The Trojans scored four goals, before Byrne scored a late goal that took a few lucky bounces for Marin Academy, as the ball skipped off the water, hit the bottom of the crossbar and landed inside the cage.

“We shifted to a different offensive game in the second half and that led to some unanswered goals,” Peters said. “The third quarter was the big difference. Our boys never got cocky or overconfident. They just kept their heads down and ran the plays.”

Junior goalkeeper Sam Frack (10 saves) continued the all-star caliber play he has shown throughout the postseason for the Trojans.

“Sam Frack had an unbelievable game in the cage. He got his hands on everything and didn’t allow Marin Academy any easy goals,” Peters said.

The contest was physical and emotional throughout, with all the elements that create a great rivalry: intensity, talent and respect.

“This is exactly what we expected,” Peters said. “Those are two great teams in the pool.”

Terra Linda was the last team to defeat Marin Academy (12-6) in the regular season on September 28 in a 10-6 decision.

“We had a great season,” Gvishi said. “We had a few close games and we played well all season. I’m proud of my boys and I’m looking forward to next season.”