Boys water polo: San Marin claims historic first championship
Brothers Beckett and Brogan Corridan had just one season together at San Marin High, and they seized the opportunity to make history.
The duo helped power the third-seeded Mustangs to the school’s first North Coast Section water polo championship, with Saturday’s 9-6 victory over James Logan in the Division II finals at Redwood High. The victory secures a berth for San Marin (19-9) in the NorCal Regional playoffs, slated to start on Tuesday.
“This was the dream to play together,” said Mustangs senior Beckett Corridan, who scored a game-high four goals.
The brothers play together for coach Andrew Morris’ Marin Water Polo Club, but this was their first season together at San Marin High.
Freshman Brogan Corridan, who also is in the Olympic Development Program, tallied a pair of goals and contributed a dominating defensive game against a fast-shooting James Logan squad.
“This championship, being the school’s first, means so much for us,” Brogan Corridan said. “And being a freshman, I hope we can do it again next year.”
The fifth-seeded Colts (17-13) from James Logan came out confident after stopping the Mustangs’ initial drive. Noah Defaii scored a pair of quick goals in the first quarter and the Colts extended their lead to 3-0 early in the second. Then the Mustangs took over with three goals in 90 seconds. Back-to-back power play goals from Beckett Corridan and Logan Reed, followed by a touch-and-shoot goal from Brogan Corridan, tied the score.
The Mustangs thought they took the lead on a buzzer-beater heading into halftime when goalie Will Larson hurled the ball across the pool into an empty James Logan net, but the goal was waved off because the clock had stopped.
San Marin finally took the lead at the start of the second half as Beckett Corridan drove hard on a counter attack and rammed the ball home for the goal to put the Mustangs ahead. A backhand goal in front of the cage by Brogan Corridan added some insurance for a 6-4 lead, which the Mustangs made stand up.
Beckett Corridan, Finn Malcolm and Dylan Procopio scored in the final quarter to hold off a furious Colts rally effort.
Larson played a solid game in net with eight saves behind a ballhawking defense. James Logan outshot San Marin 30-25, but struggled to find an open lane against the Mustangs.
“It’s been an honor to coach these kids,” said San Marin head coach Chris Procopio, whose squad wears the mantle “the team without a pool.”
San Marin is the only public school in the MCAL without its own pool on campus, and shares the pool at Novato High. Terra Linda and San Rafael high schools are both scheduled to unveil new pools in the near future.
“It was a rough start to the season, but from the start the coaches said that without discipline, there is no success,” Procopio said. “The boys held each other accountable, they worked hard, they swam a mile nearly every day in practice.”
The Mustangs went 5-5 in MCAL play and lost to Terra Linda in the opening round of the league tournament, but a challenging schedule steeled San Marin for a run through the NCS playoffs.
“The boys turned it on,” Chris Procopio said. “The camaraderie in the pool means more to me than anything. They competed hard and they deserve this championship.”