With a sharp-shooting offense averaging about 13 goals a game, the Monta Vista boys water polo team made a strong first impression on the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division this fall.
In fact, after a 12-9 overtime victory against Mountain View on Oct. 7, the Matadors enjoyed a 5-2 record and a share of second place. But they want to make a bigger splash by earning their first Central Coast Section playoff berth since 2001.
“This is the first time in many years that we have competed for one of the top spots in the De Anza Division,” said Monta Vista coach Ron Freeman, whose team was set to play at Gunn on Oct. 13 before hosting Palo Alto the next evening. “Our hope is to finish in the top three or better in league and qualify for CCS.”
After a 1-4 showing in the tough John Schmitt Tournament, the Matadors knocked off their first four De Anza opponents with a combined score of 53-27. They beat Mountain View 11-8, Gunn 17-7, Palo Alto 10-4 and Los Gatos 15-8. Monta Vista’s surge continued with three more victories and the championship of Lynbrook’s Rosenbrock Tournament on Sept. 24-25.
Finally, league leader Los Altos (7-0) and district rival Homestead (2-5) slowed down the high-scoring Matadors. The Eagles beat Monta Vista 17-12 on Sept. 28. A week later, the Mustangs capitalized on the Matadors’ foul trouble and recovered from a three-goal, halftime deficit to trim the Matadors in overtime 13-11.
Trailing 7-4 at halftime, Homestead rallied on a combined five goals by Brad Crane, Daniel Camburn and Joey Schaadt to pull even at 9-9 after three quarters.
“What kept us in the game was our constant driving,” explained Homestead coach Doug Russum. “We had two of their top players in foul trouble early on and they both were out of the game in the third quarter with three apiece.”
Homestead scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to move ahead 11-9, but Monta Vista fought back to 11-11 and had a chance to win in the final minute.
“We had a man advantage on the last possession,” Freeman said, “but lost the ball on a technical foul and regulation time ended in a tie.”
Schaadt put Homestead ahead with a goal in the first of the two three-minute extra periods and Scott Connolly’s score with about 40 seconds left in the second OT put the game out of reach. Monta Vista had some chances in overtime, but could not get the ball past Homestead goaltender Jason Strawbridge.
Camburn led all scorers with six goals, Crane tallied three and Schaadt had two. Connolly, Homestead’s top defender, and Costa Spyrou added one each.
Nick Sinzig paced Monta Vista with five goals, while teammates Alex Bagdasarian, Brendan Duffy and Cameron Yates each had two.
Monta Vista had to work in overtime again two days later against Mountain View. The Matadors halted their two-game skid and improved to 9-5 overall, but it was not easy.
The visiting Spartans led 8-6 after three periods, but were blanked by Matadors goalie Andrew Sabour in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the Mats scored twice to send the game into OT. Monta Vista outscored Mountain View 4-1 in the two extra sessions.
Yates’ four goals paced Monta Vista. Bagdasarian, an all-SCVAL performer the previous two seasons, scored three and Duffy tossed in two.
Two days after its win against Monta Vista, Homestead received six more goals from Camburn and three from Schaadt, but the Mustangs could not handle Los Altos and its top gun, Colin Mulcahy. The Eagles built an 8-4 lead in the first half and stretched it to 14-4 in the third quarter, en route to an 18-9 victory. With the loss, Homestead’s overall mark dipped to 5-5.
Mulcahy, one of the best players in CCS, followed up an eight-goal effort against Monta Vista with seven in the win over Homestead.
Mats, Mustangs win
In the eight-team Rosenbrock tourney, Monta Vista defeated Fremont 15-4 and Pioneer 5-2 before dunking Lynbrook 13-5 in the title game. Yates scored 12 goals in the tourney, including seven against Lynbrook.
Connor Brunmeier, who totaled 14 goals in Lynbrook’s tourney wins over Cupertino and Burlingame, managed just two against Monta Vista. Kip Lund also had a pair for the Vikings.
Sinzig tallied seven goals over the three-game weekend for Monta Vista, while Bagdasarian had six and Duffy added four. Eric Chang chipped in with two and Jonathan Cheng, Dmitry Evert, Sean Hughes and Peter Wells each added one.
Pioneer beat Burlingame for third place, Willow Glen topped Wilcox for fifth and Fremont outlasted Cupertino in the seventh-place game, 14-7.
Senior Ryan Kashi and sophomore Isaac Allen paced Fremont with three goals apiece. Senior Asaf Avidan-Antonir and sophomores Alex Kashi and Victor Fateh each scored two, while seniors Andrew Messner and Andrew Titus tossed in one apiece.
Homestead won its own the Doug Wahlgren Memorial Tournament, Sept. 17-18. The Mustangs, paced by Camburn’s second 11-goal performance of the season, opened with a 17-12 triumph over Woodside. They beat Carmel in the semifinals, before toppling Archbishop Mitty 13-4 for the first-place trophy. Camburn was named MVP of the event, and Schaadt and Strawbridge joined him on the all-tournament team.
El Camino boys
Needing a home win against Wilcox on Oct. 7 to force a tie atop the division standings, Lynbrook was halfway to its goal with a 4-2 lead at the intermission. But the Chargers outscored the host Vikings 6-3 in the second half and claimed an 8-7 decision.
With the win, Wilcox (7-0) increased its first-place margin over Lynbrook (5-2), which received a game high of four goals from senior Nick Lorenzen. Evan Sheh had a team-high three goals in the Vikings’ 14-5 win over Cupertino two days earlier. Pioneers senior Desmond Maisel led all scorers with four goals.
Elsewhere, the standard overtime periods could not settle Fremont’s game at Harker. After a 9-9 tie in regulation, both teams scored a goal in each OT, forcing a third extra period. Harker finally ended the deadlock and claimed a 12-11 win. R. Kashi and A. Kashi paced the Firebirds with three goals apiece. Allen and Fateh added two each and senior Corey Ibanez had one.
Girls water polo
Wilcox senior Savannah Seaman totaled 16 goals in two El Camino games last week, as the Chargers (7-0, 10-1) remained unbeaten in division play.
Seaman pumped in seven goals during a 16-5 win over Santa Clara and nine in a 17-5 victory over Lynbrook. Sophomores Natalie Popescu (three goals) and Emily Fong (two) accounted for all of Lynbrook’s scoring.
Two days earlier, Popescu and Fong fired in three goals apiece as Lynbrook (4-3, 8-8) scored a 12-3 win over visiting Cupertino. Senior Emmeline Tsen and junior Tiffani Lau tossed in two goals apiece, while seniors Melody Tan and Ashley Tsai each had one.
Fong was on fire for the Vikings the previous week, scoring seven goals in a pair of Lynbrook wins, 12-6 over Harker and 11-10 against Mountain View.
Fremont also split a pair of games last week, edging Mountain View 9-7 but falling to Harker 8-7. Senior Rachael Nakagawa paced the Firebirds’ victory over the Spartans (3-3) with three scores and Rachael Owyeung had two.
In the De Anza Division, Monta Vista seniors Nikki Danese and Sonika Singh combined for nine goals to lead the Matadors to a 12-9 victory at Homestead on Oct. 5. Danese scored six and Singh three for the Matadors. Sophomore Courtney Kinderman tallied three goals and senior Kelsey Lee had two for Homestead.
The Mustangs were coming off a 7-5 victory at Saratoga on Sept. 28. Kinderman led the way with three goals and junior Allis Yao scored two. Senior Jane Kim and sophomore Becci Danford also scored for the Mustangs.
