Athlete of the Week: Woodside’s Will Stevenson

“It was really incredible,” Antonino said. “Maybe some luck, some skill.”

With senior Webster Antonchuk totaling 82 goals this season, and seniors Julian Hull (49 goals) and Joseph Hohl (16 goals) ranking among the team’s top scorers, Stevenson (25 goals) is at the forefront of a sophomore contingent looking to navigate Woodside into the future.

The program has earned four Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division championships over the past five seasons — with co-championships in 2022 and ’23, and outright championships in ’18 and ’19.

The Wildcats are in the running for another Bay Division title this season. And when Stevenson scored his game-winning goal against Burlingame, the team went on to celebrate staying tied for first place with Menlo-Atherton. The two teams were deadlocked atop the standings thanks to Woodside’s 12-5 win over M-A earlier in the week.

“It was a relief,” Stevenson said. “We expected to beat them by a lot more. We weren’t expecting that tough of a game an we were just relieved the game was finally over.”

Then, about 30 minutes after the final buzzer of Thursday’s overtime thriller, Woodside got work M-A lost 14-11 to Sequoia, leaving the Wildcats all alone in first place with two games to play. Now, the next generation of Wildcats is looking to put their stamp on program history, and beyond.

Stevenson, a second-year varsity starter, is the trailblazer of Woodside’s sophomore group. He started the 2023 season as the only freshman on the varsity roster.

“It was a little intimidating,” Stevenson said. “At first I didn’t know anyone, but as the season went on, I got to know them, joking around, I got to like it.”

The young up-and-comer was somewhat alienated at first; not only did he not know any of the varsity players, the promotion also caused a shakeup on his Mid-Pen Water Polo Club team — also coached by Antonino — as he was promoted from the 14U team to the 18U team. It meant not getting to play the 2023 season with friends Miles Moore, Toby Yuen, Peyton Stafford and Cole Richards, all of whom remained on the Woodside junior-varsity and Mid-Pen 14U teams for freshman year.

It didn’t take long for Stevenson to crack the starting lineup. The 2023 season opened with a blowout loss 23-6 at Valley Christian. The benefit of the lopsided score, however, was Stevenson came off the bench to see significant minutes in the second half. Two weeks later during PAL Bay Division play, he was in the starting lineup and tallied three multi-goal games in his first three starts, including back-to-back hat tricks in wins over Hillsdale and Carlmont.

This year, the full-fledged future arrived as Moore, Yuen, Stafford and Richards were promoted to the varsity squad.

“I feel like I had more friends on the team this year,” Stevenson said. “I felt like it made team bonding quicker than it was last year.”

It took the new lineup some time to find its footing, though. Woodside entered the week with a 9-1 league record, its one loss, 12-10 to Menlo-Atherton, coming in its PAL Bay opener Sept. 9.

“We had, I’d say, one of our worst games of the season and ... we just didn’t know them that well,” Stevenson said. “Their team was a lot different last year. We just weren’t ready, I guess.”

Woodside’s second matchup against M-A was a different story. The 12-5 victory — with Hull scoring a game-high four goals, and Antonchuk with three — found the Wildcats in the midst of a prolonged winning streak.

“I feel like we were ready,” Stevenson said. “We were at home, I feel that was a big factor. I feel like we always play better at home games. And also for league, we knew if we wanted to win league, we needed to win that game. And also for [Central Coast Section playoff] seeding, we needed to win that game.”

Stevenson totaled one goal and two assists in the win over M-A, and ranks second on the team with 29 assists on the year. Only Hull has more with 32.

The sophomore has really poured it on in recent weeks, though. Through the second half of PAL Bay Division play, Stevenson has totaled 16 goals in five games. None was bigger than the overtime score against Burlingame.

Previous to the OT period, the Wildcats thought they had the game in hand when Antonchuk scored on a blind backhand with 16 seconds remaining in regulation. Burlingame, though, answered right back with junior Alex Bozinovic scoring the equalizer to force overtime.

“I thought the game was over,” Antonino said. “But they had this one last play. ... High corner, nothing to do for my goalie.”

Woodside and Burlingame traded goals in OT before the Wildcats took possession in the closing minutes. Woodside is adept at running a perimeter offense, and cashed in when Hull sent a long pass from one side of the pool to the other. Just seconds before the shot clock expired, Stevenson gathered and let it fly.

“The shot clock was running down, I was open and I kind of fumbled it,” Stevenson said, “and I just lobbed it at the goal and it just barred in.”