New systems, same result

Even the best need to work out the kinks early in the season.

“We have some systems we’re working on getting into place,” said Menlo head coach Jack Bowen. “We did a really good job of [getting into our systems], but lost focus on finishing.

“No one can expect every piece to be in place (this early in the season).”

Burlingame is going through the same thing. The Panthers, too, are only a few matches into the season and if head coach Austin Carr had his druthers, he’d much rather see the Knights later in the season — not in the league opener.

“I’d rather it be a crescendo,” Carr said. “This is the game I hold for my standard of success.”

The Panthers hung with the Knights early. They were down 5-1 after one period, but thanks to an almost super-human effort from Burlingame goaltender Davor Koprivcic, they held Menlo to only three goals in the second period and trailed 8-3 at halftime.

In the second half, however, Menlo simply pulled away. Teams in the PAL can handle only so much pressure from the Knights before they take control of matches.

“[Menlo is] a very disciplined team,” Carr said. “I have a lot of talent. … If you’re a skilled team, the trouble is getting past just hanging with them. … You can’t be intimidated.”

Bowen says it could be hard for teams to keep up with his Knights this season. Much like basketball, some teams will simply try to dump passes into the hole set — much like getting the ball to the center in the old-style of basketball.

In the new game, it’s all about movement and Bowen believes his team can create havoc with their ability to move with and without the ball.

“One thing I like about this group, they’re a heavy movement team,” Bowen said. “When you’re on defense, you’re constantly having to make decisions (to try to keep up with the Knights).”

So while the Panthers did a decent job of keeping up with the Knights in the first two periods, Menlo eventually started finding easier and easier goals.

As is usually the case, Menlo is stocked with some of the best talent in Northern California. On Wednesday, fans got a chance to see the present and the future for the Knights. Sam Untrecht enters his fourth varsity year and he’s garnered all the accolades: player of the year awards at the league, section and Nor Cal levels, along with a spot in the junior national team pool. Bowen is now hoping that Untrecht can bring more nuance to his game for Menlo this season.

“I’m expecting him to be doubled team all year. He makes spectacular plays, but they’re not going to just let him do that this year,” Bowen said. “All the conversations with Sam have been about leadership … body language. … He’s just going to draw the defense slightly out of position.”

Wednesday, however, was one of those Untrecht games where it’s very clear what kind of match he was having. He scored six of the Knights 14 goals, spreading them out through the first three quarters. He scored one goal in each of the first and second periods, but he had three during the Knights’ six-goal, third-quarter outburst.

While Untrecht was showing off his dominance, there was another who showed he will be the one to watch in the coming years. Greg Hinderbrand is only a freshman, but he definitely has a varsity game already. He finished with three goals and displayed a heavy shot that will cause some goaltenders pause.

He is the first freshman on the varsity team since — Untrecht, three years ago.

“I’m usually reticent to put a freshman on varsity,” Bowen said, saying he more concerned about the mental and maturity level of a first-year high school student. “But not only is he 100 percent varsity level, from Week 1 he was welcomed by the team. … He’s added a lot to our offense.”

Rounding out the scoring for Menlo was Connor MacMitchell, who scored twice, while Jack King, Connor Enright and Ben Siminoff all scored one goal apiece.

Burlingame was led by Lucca Aliaga, who scored three times. Sebastian Duong scored once, converting a nice alley-oop one-timer from Jason Shevach. Fenn Jones had the other goal for Burlingame.

But the star of the show for the Panthers was goaltender Koprivcic, who did everything in his power to keep Burlingame in the match.

During one sequence in the second period, he made blocks on six of seven Menlo shots — including five in a row at one point. The Knights maintained possession for nearly a minute, as each time they fired on the cage, Koprivcic was there to knock it away out of bounds. Two of those Menlo shots came when the Knights had a man-advantage.

Earlier in the game, Koprivcic made a save when a shot bounced off his head.

“That kid is so lights out,” Carr said.