CIF NorCal water polo playoffs 2024: Miramonte, Sacred Heart Prep, De La Salle, Campolindo, Leland advance
Girls water polo
No. 5 Miramonte 5, No. 4 Campolindo 4
MORAGA — With Miramonte’s attack sputtering at rival Campolindo in the first round of the NorCal Division I playoffs on Tuesday, star senior Ally Larsen put the visiting team on her back.
She scored her first goal on a 6-on-4 power play with 3:48 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 1-1, and then fired a shot past the keeper into the low right corner of the net 46 seconds later to put Miramonte on top.
The UCLA commit’s third goal of the quarter was her most spectacular, a volley from the halfway line with under 30 seconds left to beat the shot-clock buzzer.
“It’s a team effort, because even though I scored the goals, it is the assists that count more,” Larsen said. “We run plays as a team to set up the person to score, and I’m just the person who puts it away.”
After Campo’s Avery Sullivan scored the first goal of the game, her Campo teammate, Lily Holloway, put in two third-quarter goals to tie the game at 3-3 going into the fourth period.
A soft lob shot by Ella Binney gave Campolindo the lead with 3:52 left in the game, but Larsen tied it at 4-4 with 1:51 remaining.
Kate Liu scored the winning goal with 1:18 left when she corralled a rebound and put it past the keeper, clinching a game dominated by Miramonte shot-stopper Eliana Bottene (six saves) and Campolindo goalie (nine saves).
Miramonte coach John Roemer, while not particularly thrilled by the team’s attacking struggles, was happy that his program showed it could win despite the offense not playing up to its lofty standards.
“I was telling them to think about every team that wins the NCAA basketball championship,” Roemer said. “Every team that wins goes through a game like this. One that they survived. We were ahead, they came back, went ahead, and we tested our resolve, went ahead and then held them off.”
Up next is a semifinal visit on Thursday night to top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep, which won two of three matchups with the Matadors this season.
No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep 19, No. 8 Granite Bay 6
SHP, the top seed in NorCal Division I and the CCS Open Division champ, made quick work of visiting Granite Bay as senior Natalia Szczerba scored seven goals and had an assist. Teammate Kiernan Hogan had four goals and two assists and Vivian Golub added two goals and four assists.
Casey Coleman scored twice, and Megan Newby, Lauren Rossi and Caroline Selna all scored once. Goalies Ellison Brush and Isabella Dova each had six saves for the Gators.
No. 2 Carondelet 11, No. 7 Acalanes 6
The NCS Open Division champions were just too much for Acalanes as the Concord powerhouse got six goals from sophomore Ainsley Swann and advanced to the semifinals on Thursday at home against third-seeded Arroyo Grande. Josie Haast scored three times, twice in the fourth quarter, and Emilia Haast put in two goals to complete the scoring for Carondelet.
Acalanes sophomore Finley Graff led her team with three goals, and Maddie Walsh, Siena La Rotonda and Ella Del Rosario each scored once for the Lafayette school.
No. 3 Leland 11, No. 6 Clovis 7
The Chargers advanced to the semifinals of the NorCal Division II bracket after pulling away from Clovis in the second half. The score was 4-4 at halftime. Chrissy Flynn – younger sister of Olympian Jenna Flynn – led the way with six goals and Sophia DeScioli added two goals and two assists.
Sofia DeRollo, Inaya Stojanovic, and Diyana Gunasekera each had a goal. Stojanovic also had four assists. Goalie Emily Marshall had eight saves.
Leland will travel to Stevenson on Thursday.
No. 5 San Ramon Valley 13, No. 4 Clovis East 5
San Ramon Valley made the long trip to Clovis worth it, easily defeating Clovis East in Division II behind a great all-around game by Natalie Buck. She had three goals, five assists, seven steals and one drawn ejection. Daphne Mundelius wasn’t too shabby either, scoring a team-high four goals to go along with an assist and three steals.
Brooke Temkin and Olivia Anderson scored two goals apiece, and Khamila Martell and Everleigh Jasso scored one goal each. Frankie Sanchez earned a five-meter penalty and Molly Feaver had an assist. Shelby Killingsworth had 19 saves and four steals, and Zoe Holtzinger had one save. SRV will travel to top-seeded Davis Sr. on Thursday.
Boys water polo
No. 1 De La Salle 16, No. 8 Buchanan 9
The NCS Open Division champion and top seed in Division I took care of business against visiting Buchanan, leading 6-1 after the first quarter and never looking back. Breydon Congo scored a team-high five goals, and Lukas Peters was right behind him with four goals. Senior attacker Michael Peeff chipped in three goals.
Colin Sullivan, Sloan Brown, Gabe Skov and Hayden Tully each scored one goal apiece. De La Salle will play host to Campolindo, which the Spartans defeated 8-7 in the NorCal Open playoffs on Nov. 9.
No.2 Sacred Heart Prep 13, Rio Americano 5
Oliver Marcin scored a team-high four goals as CCS Open champion Sacred Heart Prep routed visiting Rio Americano in the NorCal Division I playoffs. Nelson Harris had two goals and two assists and Gates Gamble made two of his three shots and had a couple of assists.
Clay Carrington, David Edelman, Ryan Karr and Luke Kirincich scored a goal apiece, and goalie Murdoch Baker-Matsuoka saved 10 shots and had a steal.
Sacred Heart Prep will play host to Miramonte in the semifinals on Thursday.
No. 3 Miramonte 14, No. 6 Archie Williams 7
Miramonte secured a trip to Sacred Heart Prep in the NorCal Division I semifinal after it defeated visiting Archie Williams. Freshman Davis Gordon scored three times for the Matadors, and Griff Tunney scored twice.
Tristan Tucker also added a pair of goals for Miramonte, which rebounded from an overtime loss to De La Salle in the NCS Open title game on Saturday. Yoav Schmoisman, Griffin Maclear and Patrick Stice scored once for the Matadors, who improved to 17-10.
No. 4 Campolindo 12, No. 5 St. Francis 7
Elite programs from the Diablo Athletic League and West Catholic Athletic League met in Moraga on Tuesday night, and it was the host Cougars who were able to avoid a second consecutive loss.
Brothers Cade and Hayden O’Hare combined for seven goals. Teammate Ellis Culleton scored twice, as did Will Maguy. Goalkeeper Drew DeFrancisci had seven saves and also scored a goal on a full-pool shot.
St.. Francis attacker Finn Swanson paced the Lancers with two goals, and Dmitri Verstak, Chase Krupitzer, Darius Sayar, Johnny Carr and Rollan Tannert each scored once.
Campolindo will travel to top-seeded De La Salle on Thursday.
No. 2 Menlo School 17, No. 7 Righetti 9
Menlo School goalkeeper Connor Burks saved 18 shots and helped the Knights advance to the semifinals of the NorCal Division II playoffs. Hunter Coleman was unstoppable with seven goals. Adam Afar had three goals and three assists, and Alex Stoffel had a huge impact with six assists and five steals.
Calvin Barad and Lincoln Bott each scored three goals, and Jackson Coleman scored once. Hunter Coleman had three steals and earned ejections to go with his prolific goal scoring.
Menlo will play host to Rocklin on Thursday.
No. 3 Los Altos 14, No. 6 Buhach Colony-Atwater 5
Colby Sims and Tiernan Braun both scored a hat trick – three goals – as Los Altos rolled past Buhach Colony on Tuesday. Joseph Tadros and Bruno Beckmann joined the pair in the scoring column with two goals each.
Zack Po, William O’Shaughnessy, Ferran de Witt and Benji Barkovich each contributed one goal. The Eagles will travel to Merced for a semifinal match on Thursday.
No. 4 Valley Christian 11, No. 5 Garces Memorial-Bakersfield 7
Garett Crabb scored five goals in the CCS Division II title game against Leland, and he one-upped himself by getting six goals in a victory over Garces Memorial-Bakersfield in the first round of the NorCal Division III playoffs.
Chase Blitzer scored twice, and Micah Hernandez, Kaden Cochran and Darius Deac each scored one goal apiece for the Warriors. Valley Christian will travel to top-seeded Ripon for the semifinals on Thursday.