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Boys water polo: Terra Linda wins, sets up rematch against Redwood

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The Trojans weren’t looking past their North Coast Section first-round opponent Thursday night, but they clearly thinking ahead to a potential rematch with Redwood High.

No. 8 Terra Linda took care of business with a 12-6 victory over No. 9 Northgate at host site Marin Academy. Junior Cameron Hellar and senior Soren Jessen, who’ve both been part of Team USA’s Olympic pipeline, scored four goals each and Terra Linda netminder Joey Carvalho was solid against the Northgate assault.

The Trojans then waited as top-seeded Redwood ousted No. 16 Alameda, 16-8, in Larkspur late Thursday night to set up Saturday’s Division I quarterfinal showdown in Larkspur.

“This was the game we needed after last week’s loss to Redwood,” Terra Linda Head coach Danny Roland said. “This was a good, solid game. Our patience was good and our defense was good. As the saying goes, defense wins championships.”

The Trojans have been patiently waiting for another shot at Redwood after a triple-overtime 14-13 loss to the Giants in the MCAL semifinals.

“We really want to play Redwood one more time,” said Trojans senior Patrick Knopf, who notched a goal in the first period against Northgate on Thursday. “We’ve lost to Redwood twice and they were both really close games. I really want one more shot at them.”

Jessen added, “That triple-overtime loss to Redwood was pretty heartbreaking, but to get some momentum from this game (against Northgate) can get us rolling in NCS.”

The Trojans are looking to recapture some of the magic from last season’s NCS playoffs, when they surprised top-seeded Archie Williams in the quarterfinals. Terra Linda fell to Las Lomas in the semifinals, spoiling a potential all-Marin matchup with Redwood in the finals. The Giants went on to beat Las Lomas, 10-9, for their second D-I title in three years.

“We’re basically in the spot as we were last season,” Roland said. “We’re just playing Redwood instead of Archie Williams. So, our goal is just to do better than last year.”

Terra Linda was certainly up to the task Thursday in a matchup of past Division II champions. The Trojans won the D-II title in 2022, succeeding the 2021 champion Broncos.

After clawing out a one-goal advantage in the first period, the Trojans reeled off three goals for a solid 6-2 halftime lead.

Junior Harley Havemann scored twice for the Trojans, who also got a goal from senior Andrew Chong.

“I felt pretty confident through the first quarter, but we needed to get the ball rolling,” Knopf said.

Carvalho withstood 30 Broncos shots on the Terra Linda net, with 15 saves. The Broncos’ Marcus Manuel managed to score twice in the third period, and Oliver Knoflick also notched a pair of goals.

“Joey always plays well, but he played a little above average tonight,” Roland said with a smile. “He had some good blocks against some big shots.”

Three goals from Hellar and two from Jessen in the third gave Terra Linda a commanding 11-3 lead, and the Trojans could have been forgiven if they were starting to look ahead to Saturday just a little bit.

“We know that each game could be our last game together, so we’re motivated to keep playing as long as possible, to go as deep as we can,” Knopf said.

• In other first-round boys tournament play Thursday, seniors Andrew Sternfels and Reed Hanna each scored four goals to pace No. 3 seed Tam past No. 14 California High of San Ramon, 14-6, in a Division 1 game at Redwood Thursday. Sternfels added three assists and Hanna chipped in two steals for Tam (15-11), while freshman goalie Ethan Wallace made 15 saves. Senior Fields Palmer and freshman Pasch Campbell-Visnich each had three assists, while freshman Jasper Feldman scored twice for the Red-tailed Hawks, who advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals against No. 6 Liberty, at host Redwood High.

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