Aragon boys' water polo team holds on for Central Coast Section playoff berth

On Thursday, Terra Nova nearly became the fourth to accomplish the feat.

Taking on Aragon in San Mateo, the undefeated Ocean Division champion Tigers fell behind 4-0 after the first period, only to come roaring back and tie the match at 6-all with just over a minute to play in the third period.

But Aragon, which finished third in the Bay Division, scored a pair of power play goals early in the fourth that proved to be the difference as the Dons survived for a 9-6 decision to move into the CCS playoffs for the first time since the 2007 season.

Aragon head coach Carly DeMarchena said she wasn’t surprised to see Terra Nova make a run against her team. She just knew her team was going to underestimate the Tigers because they play in the Ocean Division.

“I knew what we were going to do,” DeMarchena said. “We are notorious for our assumptions.”

Aragon is also notorious for their slow starts, DeMarchena said, so she was pleased to see her team bolt out to a 4-0 lead after the opening seven minutes, a barrage that featured a pair of penalty goals from Ethan Xie.

For the next two periods, however, it was all Terra Nova. After Donovan Potter found the back of the net for the Tigers on a 5-meter penalty shot less than a minute into the second period, the Tigers’ confidence surged.

Aragon got the goal back when Evan Molloy, with a defender draped across his back, made a one-handed catch and, in same motion, slammed the ball into the net to push the Dons’ lead back to four, 5-1.

But the Tigers responded by scoring four of the next five goals. Potter, who finished with a team-high four goals, scored from the left wing and then assisted on a Christman Dunhill goal that cut the Aragon lead to 5-3.

The Dons briefly halted the Tigers’ rally when they caught a break on the power play. The shot-clock horn sounded for an apparent turnover, but it was ruled the shot clock was never reset.

Given a reprieve, Aragon took advantage with Xavier McKenzie converting a pass from Avery Mishner for a 6-3 Aragon advantage.

But Terra Nova got goals from Justin Arnaudo and Potter to trail just 6-5 going into halftime as the Tigers outscored the Dons 5-2 in the period.

“I don’t know (what happened). That was probably some of the worst defense I’ve seen all (season),” DeMarchena said.

It only got worse in the third period. While the Dons tightened things up defensively, allowing only one goal, they were rushed and sloppy on offense, resulting in seven third-period turnovers against just two shot attempts.

Terra Nova also struggled offensively in the third, as well. The Tigers’ three shots on goal were saved by Aragon goaltender Noah Dulac — including one early in the period that he had to swipe out of the goalmouth to prevent it from floating into the goal for the score.

The Tigers did manage to score the only goal of the period — on a Potter breakaway following a perfect outlet pass from goaltender Nicolas Garrett — which tied the score at 6-all.

Despite seeing their early lead gone, DeMarchena decided to look at the positives from the quarter.

“Second half, we figured out our defense,” DeMarchena.

That turned out to be a huge development as the Dons held Terra Nova scoreless over the final eight minutes of the game.

Aragon quickly retook the lead in the fourth period, converting a pair of power-play goals. Thirty seconds into the final period, the Tigers were whistled for an ejection and it took one Aragon pass to McKenzie to give the Dons the lead for good when he slammed home a goal from the left post for a 7-6 lead.

The Dons repeated the sequence when Terra Nova was called for another ejection and McKenzie buried a shot from the left wing to put the Dons up 8-6.

McKenzie led Aragon with four goals.

“He’s been that (guy) all season,” DeMarchena said of McKenzie. “He’ll take control.”

Dulac came up with a huge stop on a Zakary Kafka shot in front and saved a Potter shot with under a minute to play.

Arman Zahabi then iced the game for the Dons with a rebound goal with five seconds left in the match.

Despite coming up short, Terra Nova head coach Lily Hart could not have been more proud of her team.

“We gave them a good scare,” Hart said. “[We] were undefeated in the Ocean and they should be proud of that.”

For DeMarchena and the Dons, Thursday’s win was the first team goal accomplished.

DeMarchena knew Menlo-Atherton and Woodside, which finished 1-2 atop the Bay Division standings, were better than everyone else in the Bay. So she turned her focus to finishing in third to play in this game.

“This has been our focus all year,” DeMarchena said. “We needed to be [third in the Bay Division] and we needed to win this game — which we talked about for the last 12 weeks.”