Boys water polo: Redwood nets late winner in NorCals

Freshman Storm Jackson found himself right in the thick of the action in the biggest game of his young high school career. When his Redwood High teammates needed him most, Jackson was at his best.

With just three seconds on the clock, Jackson quickly took a pass and from 5 meters out, he hurled the ball to the near side of the cage. Jackson pumped his fists against the water in jubilation as the ball nestled in the back of the net for the winning goal as the top-seeded Giants narrowly advanced past No. 8 Harker, 14-13, in the first round of the Northern California Division II boys water polo regionals.

Redwood is set to host No. 5 Clovis in Thursday’s semifinals. Clovis took down No. 4 seed Davis 14-6 on Tuesday.

“We wanted to stop (Maddox McClellan, Jackson and Ossie Joplin),” said Harker coach Lee McBride as he analyzed the final minute of the game. “We wanted to try to be in the shooting lanes, but Redwood was able to close it out.”

McClellan had a goal and an assist in the Giants’ 11-8 victory over Harker in an October tournament. On Tuesday, he scored three goals as he stepped up to fill the gap left by Sawyer Goldberg, who was sidelined by an injury.

Joplin was a wizard around the ball, netting five goals, but also bringing the pressure on defense. McClellan and Lukas Knauer each scored two goals for the Giants, and Charlie Poser and Jakob Engberg also scored.

The Giants had trouble stopping the Eagles, who got three goals each from Oskar Baumgarte, Vyom Vidyarthi and Adam Pawliger.

“It was a tough game,” Redwood head coach Rudy Kardos said. “We were missing one of our best players and that affected the guys more than I expected. But kudos to Harker. They played a tough game.”

The Giants bring a solid pedigree to the NorCal playoffs. Redwood won the 2021 NorCal D-II crown but lost in the first round of the D-I playoffs in 2022 and lost again in the first round in D-II last season.

“Some of these guys have that NorCal experience and were playing like they knew what they had to do,” Kardos said.

Joplin opened the scoring 35 seconds into the game, and Jackson and McClellan scored to push the Giants’ lead to 3-1 by the end of the first period. The Eagles turned the tables in the second period as Redwood ran into foul trouble. Harker scored three consecutive goals for a 4-3 lead with 2:40 left in the first half.

From there, it was a seesaw battle, but Redwood didn’t retake the lead until Poser blasted the ball through a traffic jam in front of the cage and into the back of the net for an 11-10 advantage with 3:44 left to play.

The Eagles’ Vidyarthi tied the score again just 25 seconds later, and the prospect of overtime started to cover the pool. Knauer took the tight angle from the left side of the cage to power the ball past goalkeeper Alejandro Cheline as the Giants pushed ahead 12-11 with just 2:12 to play.

But the Eagles benefitted from a foul call and Vidyarthi challenged Redwood goalkeeper Owen Malone in a standoff and scored the equalizer again. Back and forth the teams went, right down to the wire, with Engberg scoring and the Eagles countering with a goal from Pawliger heading into the final minute. The Eagles had an effective attack within 2 meters, but Malone still managed 15 saves.

The Giants set up their final assault, working the ball around the perimeter, until Jackson saw an opening and released the ball, spinning counterclockwise, as it curved just out of Cheline’s reach for the winner.

Around the county

• In other NorCal boys action, No. 7 seed Marin Academy fell to No. 2 Merced, 12-4, in the Division III opener at Merced Junior College. The Wildcats (17-10) were within striking distance, trailing by two goals in the third period before the Bears (26-6) went on a 6-0 run to close out the game. Jack Buchanan led the Wildcats with two goals, and Matthieu Giauque and Michael Yoder rounded out the scoring. Marin Academy netminder Lachlan Baldouf had 13 saves.
• No. 6 Archie Williams lost to No. 3 Miramonte, 14-7, in the NorCal D-I opening round in Orinda. The Peregrine Falcons (22-6) had earlier lost twice to the Matadors (17-10).
• In the NorCal D-III girls bracket, No. 7 Marin Catholic lost 7-4 to No. 2 Aptos, which outscored the Wildcats 4-1 in the second half. Marin Catholic ends the season with a 17-10 record.