Boys water polo: Redwood powers up to strengthen hold on MCAL lead

The Redwood High boys water polo team did what it had to do to prove its worth as the best in the county on Thursday against perennial title contender Archie Williams.

The Peregrine Falcons struck first, but Redwood answered with three consecutive goals and the Giants led the rest of the game en route to a 13-8 victory in their home pool.

“This was the game for us to win,” Redwood head coach Rudy Kardos said.

Redwood (11-5, 6-0 MCAL) holds the top spot in the MCAL playoff race, ahead of Tam (8-3, 6-1) and Archie Williams (8-8, 3-2), with Marin Catholic and Terra Linda, both 4-2, also in the mix and awaiting their shot at Redwood.

The Giants have just three more league games before the scheduled start of the postseason on Oct. 24, and are looking to go undefeated on their way back to the MCAL title. The Giants, the 2023 champions, lost to Archie Williams in the MCAL finals last season.

The Falcons played most of Thursday’s game without one of their top players after Nolan Anderson suffered a broken nose in the second period and never returned.

Beckett Kaye scored a goal in each of the first three periods to lead the Falcons, who also got a pair of goals from Nate Greenberg, and one each from Nico Rendic, Cole Taplin and Blake Badley.

“Redwood is the No. 1 seed right now for a reason,” Archie Williams head coach Matt Swanson said. “They’re a big team, we’re a smaller team. We had some bad rebounds, some bad luck.”

Jackson Monty enjoyed a feast in front of the Falcons net, scoring a game-high four goals all from close range.

“When you break through that 1-meter line, you’re going to score,” Kardos said of Monty.

Monty wasn’t the only Giants swimmer taking advantage of high-percentage shots. Isaac Nikfar scored a pair of goals in the first period from in front of the cage.

Storm Jackson answered Kaye’s opening goal with a line drive to tie the game just a minute later. Nikfar then followed with a power shot for the go-ahead goal with 3 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first.

Even though the Giants held a three-goal most of the game, Kardos wasn’t resting comfortably against the Falcons.

“Against an opponent like Archie Williams, you don’t let up,” Kardos said. “You don’t give them any opportunities. They can come back from a two-goal deficit at any time.”

Jakob Engberg, who finished with three goals to balance a strong defensive effort, was in the right place at the right time in the third period for a pair of putbacks as the Giants took a 9-6 lead into the final period.

Maddox McClellan, who kept Peregrine Falcons goalkeeper Josh Dixon busy all night, scored his second goal of the night with a shot under the outstretched arm of Dixon for a 10-6 Giants lead in the fourth. A pair of short goals from Monty and an outside shot from Oliver Rogers helped seal the night.