Menlo boys’ water polo settles for second place at Scott Roche tourney

La Jolla senior Finn Bugelli scored a team-high four goals, including two early scores as the Vikings jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But it was the physical and tenacious defense La Jolla used to beat up the Knights’ offense that set the tone from the early minutes.

“They play really nice team defense, which is also somewhat rare for big, studly type offensive players,” Menlo head coach Jack Bowen said. “They take defense really seriously.”

Menlo advanced to the championship game by virtue of wins over Los Altos 12-2, and 8-7 over Clovis North in the semifinals. The semis matchup saw the Knights trailing by a goal heading into the final period, but Tommy Kiesling’s four-goal, two-assist performance spurred Menlo to win the fourth quarter 2-0 and surge into the finals with a comeback win.

La Jolla left no such room for error, springing a surprise defensive look on Menlo, using an “M” formation by dropping their 2-meter defender into the middle to bruise Menlo’s attackers. Menlo senior Jackson Kay tangled and scrapped in front of the La Jolla cage all day long with contentious matchups that at times looked downright pugilistic.

“It’s a fantastic defense,” Kay said. “We’ve actually never seen them play this before. It’s new to this year, but they’re playing it very well.”

Kiesling paced all scorers with five goals, but three of those came in the fourth quarter after La Jolla had already produced an eight-point lead.

The Vikings distributed the ball from the outset, but it took them nearly three minutes to break the seal on a scoreless game. Menlo goalkeeper Cormac Mulloy produced several clutch saves in the opening minutes, including a defense of junior Soren Martin’s nose-to-nose look from less than a meter in front of the cage. Mulloy rejected the attempt, though, for his first of nine saves.

Then the Vikings went on the warpath. Levi Epperson scored the next possession, and Bugelli added two more quick goals. Kiesling got Menlo on the board, taking advantage of a quick pass from junior Teddy Meeks off a whistle for a common foul to make it 3-1. But the Vikings got two more goals from two different players — from Martin and senior Keifer Black — to build a 5-2 lead by the end of the quarter.

“It’s almost like they run two different offenses every offensive possession,” Bowen said.

The Vikings opened the second quarter with three straight goals. After halftime, they did the same in the third. Menlo ultimately subbed in senior goalkeeper Finn Byrne in the fourth quarter. Byrne came away with five saves.

“I wish we could have battled through this game in Scott Roche’s name,” Kay said. “It’s always good when Menlo wins. But if we’re going to lose to someone, it’s great losing to them because they’re such a good program, such a good team.”

Prior to La Jolla’s back-to-back Roche championships, Menlo earned the title at its host tourney for four straight years from 2016-19. There was no tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“I’m competitive and I like to win, so this is not me saying: “Oh, hey, second place is great,’’ Bowen said. “But that’s a pretty darn good result. These guys are going to walk away saying: ‘We’re really good, and we need to get to the next level.’”

Menlo girls take 5th at Acalanes

Menlo senior Erica Fenyo delivered a game-winning goal in the final minute to give the Lady Knights an 8-7 victory over Carondolet in the fifth-place girls’ water polo game Saturday at the Acalanes Tournament.

Malia Chavinson paced Menlo with a hat trick, while Fenyo and Sofia Flieri scored two goals apiece. Goalkeeper Nyla Sharma recorded 11 saves. Fenyo led the Knights with 11 goals in the tournament.

Menlo posted a 3-1 record in Lafayette, topping San Ramon Valley 10-1 in Friday’s opener; falling to host Acalanes 13-5 later in the day; and topping Archie Williams 12-5 Saturday.