Local goalies shine in CCS

The top six boys’ and girls’ teams from the section, featuring some of the top talent in the state, were in Atherton Saturday. San Mateo County water polo fans are especially spoiled as a quarter of the 12 teams at SHP — the Menlo and Serra boys’ teams, along with both SHP boys’ and girls’ squads — were in the field and those four teams boast four of the best goalies in the section.

And it was SHP’s Ellison Brush and Menlo’s Connor Burks who had highlight-reel saves. In the first quarter of the Gators’ 13-10 overtime win over Soquel, Brush went post to post to deny a Knights’ shot. With one strong kick, Brush exploded from the left post to the right, with arms at full extension to stuff the shot from the wing.

Menlo’s Burks had, in my opinion, the save of the day among all six games. Facing top-seeded and national power Sacred Heart Prep, Burks showed his daring in the first half of the Knights’ 16-11 loss.

The Gators had the ball in front of goal, but Burks came off his line and completely suffocated the shot attempt, rising high out of the water and making a full body block, which drew a roar from the packed crowd.

“Connor, in goal, asserted himself as arguably the best goalie in CCS,” said Menlo head coach Jack Bowen.

Bowen knows a thing or two about playing goalie. He was a two-time All American and NCCA MVP during his playing days at Stanford, hosts goalie clinics and still occasionally gets in the pool during Knights’ practices.

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SHP boys’ goalie, Murdoch Baker-Matsuoka, and Serra’s Rhys Salma may not have had the highlight stops like Brush and Burks, but they certainly made their presences felt during the Open Division and Division I championship games, respectively.

Baker-Matsuoka, a three-year starter and four-year varsity player, finished with a dozen saves in the Open Division title game, including six in the first period.

But Salma had the biggest number of the day among local goalies, finishing with 17 saves, including the stop of a 5-meter penalty shot during the Padres’ agonizing 13-12 overtime loss to Mitty in the Division I final.

“Rhys was fantastic,” Serra head coach Tim Kates said.

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First, it was Aragon and Carlmont girls’ tennis teams advancing to the quarterfinals of the CCS team tennis tournament for the first time.

Now we see the Sequoia volleyball team playing for a Northern California title in the Ravens’ first-ever regional tournament appearance.

The Ravens made it to the semifinals of the CCS Division I tournament as the No. 7 seed, falling to eventual champion Milpitas. Yet they still earned the No. 1 seed and first-round bye in the Nor Cal Division III bracket.

Sequoia went the distance in beating No. 8 Bullard-Fresno in the first round Tuesday night — 21-25, 25-15, 27-25, 23-25, 15-11 and that set up a showdown with fifth-seeded and CCS power Los Gatos.

Surely this would be the end of the road for the Ravens, who were taking on a Wildcats’ squad that won the 2019 Nor Cal title?

Not so fast. For the second match in a row, Sequoia pulled out a five-set win — 25-20, 18-25, 12-25, 25-11, 16-14.

Up next for Sequoia (24-15) is a home match against No. 2 Lincoln-San Francisco (36-8) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner plays for the state title at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.

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County football made a strong showing in the first round of the CCS playoffs, with eight of 11 teams advancing to the semifinals.

County teams went 8-3 and those three losses came to other county squads: San Mateo handed Woodside its first loss of the season, 20-13 in overtime; Terra Nova doubled up South City, 40-20 and Half Moon Bay rallied from down three touchdowns to stun Burlingame, 29-21.

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal. since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.