Menlo-Sacred Heart Prep in Open polo final

The second-seeded Knights, who are the defending Northern California Division Division II champs, will play for their first CCS title since that 2017 season after getting past West Catholic Athletic League rival and third-seeded St. Francis 8-7 Thursday night in Mountain View.

It’s the second straight one-goal win for the Knights, who outlasted No. 7 Los Altos 11-10 in a first-round game.

Menlo (21-7) led 3-2 after the opening period, but were shut out by St. Francis (19-11) in the second and trailed 4-3 at halftime. The Lancers extended their lead by a goal, 7-5, after three periods, before the Knights surged to the win, shutting out St. Francis 3-0 in the fourth quarter to post the win.

Lincoln Bott and Hunter Coleman led the offense for Menlo, each notching a hat trick. Adam Afar ran the Knights’ offense, dishing out three assists and scoring a goal. Andreas Profit added two assists and a goal, as well.

In addition to making seven saves in the cage, Menlo goalie Connor Burks came away with five steals.

Waiting on the other side of the pool deck from Menlo is a familiar foe — rival and top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep (19-6). The Gators punched their ticket to the finals with a tougher-than-expected 10-7 win over No. 5 Soquel (23-5).

SHP will be looking to add a 14th straight CCS champion as the Gators make their 20th straight championship appearance. Menlo is looking for its first CCS title since beating the Gators in the 2010 final.

Saturday will be the third time the Gators and Knights have faced off this season. SHP won 13-8 in the regular season and 15-6 in the WCAL tournament title game.

Menlo-SHP tips off at 4:05 p.m. Saturday at SHP, the final of six CCS championship games.

Serra makes second consecutive finals appearance

The WCAL had two more squads make a title game, as well, as top-seeded Serra will face No. 2 Mitty for the Division I championship game at 9 a.m. Saturday at Sacred Heart Prep.

Serra (18-11) advanced to the Division I title game for the second season in a row, beating No. 4 Menlo-Atherton (16-10) 19-11 Thursday at Gunn High School.

Collin Wright is unstoppable right now for the Padres as he put up a 10-point game against M-A, scoring a game-high six goals and added four assists. Serra goalie Rhys Salma also came up big, making 12 saves.

Mitty (18-10), after opening with a 17-6 win over No. 7 Leigh, the Monarchs got past another WCAL rival, No. 3 Bellarmine, 8-7 in the other Division I semifinal.

This is the second meeting between the two teams, with Serra posting a 10-9, regular-season win Sept. 24.

Both teams are looking for their first-ever CCS water polo title. Serra had advanced to the 1993 and 1994 finals before going back last season, falling 9-7 to Los Altos in overtime.

For Mitty, this is the Monarchs’ third finals appearance in five years. They lost to Harker in the 2021 Division II final and to Gunn in 2022.

SHP girls’ look for three-peat

The top-seeded Gators will look for their third-straight CCS Open Division title as they take on No. 3 Soquel in the finals for the fifth year in a row.

SHP (24-2) hosts Soquel (20-8) at 2:40 p.m. Saturday.

These teams have split the last four CCS titles. The Knights went back-to-back in 2021 and 2022, with SHP winning the next two, including a dominating 12-2 last season.