Ravens’ title hopes still alive

“They hit three … once-in-a-lifetime goals,” said Sequoia head coach Eric Bittner. “[We] were pretty upset.”

The loss dropped the Ravens out of a three-way tie with Burlingame and Menlo-Atherton atop the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division standings as they hosted the Bears Tuesday evening.

Simply put: It was a must-win game for Sequoia and the Ravens seemed to still be carrying that loss in the early minutes against the Bears, as M-A jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead.

But Sequoia settled in. The Ravens scored three unanswered goals to tie the game at 4-all after one period and that rally propelled them to an 18-12 win.

The loss drops M-A (5-2 PAL Bay, 11-5 overall) out of a first-place tie with Burlingame, which beat Priory Monday. Sequoia (5-2, 10-7) and the Bears are now tied for second with five matches remaining on the PAL schedule.

“The first thing they said (after the loss to Woodside) was: ‘Can’t wait to beat M-A on Tuesday,’” Bittner said of his squad.

The match got off to a weird start, as M-A was called for a violation before the opening sprint happened — but Sequoia had to dump the ball on its first possession, followed by back-to-back turnovers.

And the Bears took advantage, with Bryce Winters taking a pass near the right post from Garrett Westcott and beating the Ravens’ goalie short side for a 1-0 lead 41 seconds in. Westcott made it 2-0 before the Ravens got on the board with Matteo Chocano strike on a quick restart.

But M-A countered with a penalty-shot goal from Evan ten Vaanholt and a 2-on-1, fastbreak goal from Navid Riahi for a 4-1 lead with 2:27 left in the opening quarter.

“I had a little moment of panic,” Bittner said. “But once we got a couple stops, I knew we were OK.”

Once the Ravens got the stops, they found the range. AJ McDonald, who scored a game-high seven goals, started the comeback by lobbing the M-A goalie from the left post. Brandon Ackerhalt used a spin move in the set to create space and score and McDonald’s second goal of the period with just over a minute to play tied the game at 4-all.

But the Ravens were just warming up. After scoring on four of their final five shots of the first period, they torched the twine in the second. Not only did they outscore the Bears 6-1, they scored six goals on 11 shots.

For the first half, Sequoia shot 10 for 16 (63%) and for the game, shot 62% (18 for 29).

McDonald gave the Ravens the lead for good on a skip shot on a restart from the left point less than 30 seconds into the second period. Chocano, who finished with five goals, pushed the lead to 6-4, before the Bears snapped the six-goal unanswered streak with a strike from Kanoa Lee, but the Ravens closed with four straight goals to lead 10-5 at halftime.

“The second quarter was incredible,” Bittner said.

Sequoia got goals from McDonald and Will Rodkin to open the second half and increase the Ravens’ lead to seven, 12-5, their biggest of the game.

But M-A stayed close enough to force the Ravens to work to the end as the Bears trailed 13-8 going into the fourth period.

Ten Vaanholt, who led the Bears with four goals, scored to cut the M-A lead to four, 13-9, but the Bears could never quite get back in the game, as the Ravens closed with five goals in the final seven minutes.

“At haltime, I said (to the team), ‘Remember the third quarter (against Woodside),’” Bittner said. “This game, whichever team won this match, sets them up for the league (title). I wanted it to be in our hands.”

MONDAY

Burlingame 15, Priory 7

Burlingame took over sole possession of the PAL Bay Division lead with its win over Priory Monday, coupled with M-A’s 18-12 loss to Sequoia Tuesday.

Burlingame (6-1 PAL Bay, 12-6 overall) holds a one-game lead over both M-A and Sequoia with five matches remaining on the PAL schedule. M-A hosts Burlingame Wednesday in another Bay Division showdown.

Adrian Gong had a big day for Burlingame, finishing with eight points on five goals and three assists for Burlingame (6-1 PAL Bay, 12-6 overall). Matt Derossett was right behind with seven points on five goals and two assists. Lucas Carlson and Oliver Canniffe each added two goals apiece for Burlingame.

Hillsdale 13, Carlmont 12

The Knights had to hold off a fourth-quarter surge from the Scots to pull out the Bay Division victory.

Hillsdale (3-5 PAL Bay, 9-6 overall) led 5-3 after the first period and 6-5 at halftime. The Knights gave themselves some breathing room with a five-goal third quarter to lead 11-7 going into the fourth period.

But Carlmont (1-7) turned the tables in the fourth, outscoring the Knights 5-2 to fall just short.

Isaiah Yeager paced the Hillsdale attack, scoring three times and assisting on two more goals. Eli Samon scored a team-high four goals, while Ryan Cherrington dished out a team-high three assists.

In other action ...

Aragon (6-0 PAL Ocean) remains a game ahead of San Mateo following an 11-2 win over Terra Nova (2-4).

Serra (9-8 overall) beat Stevenson (9-11) 11-4 in a non-league match.

Girls’ water polo

Terra Nova 11, Carlmont 1

The Tigers reached .500 in PAL Bay Division play with the win over the Scots.

Terra Nova (3-3 PAL Bay) got four goals from Madison Mini, and three each from Addison Gately and Phoenix Mustille.

Carlmont falls to 0-6 in Ocean play.

In other action ...

Burlingame (9-0 PAL Ocean) stayed in first place, a game ahead of Hillsdale, following an rare shutout as the Panthers beat Half Moon Bay (3-5), 16-0.