Ravens tune up for gauntlet

Unlike last year, however, Burlingame has joined the contention party, having been dealt their first division loss Monday. And Hillsdale, after a down 2024, is back in the mix again this season two games behind that quartet, entering play Wednesday.

Things will start shaking out in about a week as all the contenders will face each other for the second time this season — with Sequoia facing a daunting task of taking on Woodside, Menlo-Atherton, Hillsdale, Woodside and Burlingame in succession.

That’s why Wednesday’s matchup with visiting Priory was so important to the Ravens. Not only were they looking to maintain momentum after knocking Burlingame into a four-way tie with a 16-13 win Monday, but they couldn’t afford to overlook a Priory team that is winless in Bay play.

The game went as could have been expected, as Sequoia scored five goals in both the opening and closing quarters on its way to a 16-4 victory.

“I think they’re really confident,” said Sequoia head coach Eric Bittner of his team. “Against Burlingame, we played incredible.”

While it would have been easy for Bittner and Sequoia (4-1 PAL Bay, 9-4 overall) to play the majority of the game with backups, he still needed to have his starters stay sharp and they played the bulk of the first half.

“I’m looking for them to be clinical when they need to be,” Bittner said.

But more than the offense looking crisp, he wanted his defense to shine, as well. Priory came into the game having scored nine or more goals in three of its previous four games, so Bittner knew the Panthers had some firepower.

So he was infinitely pleased to see the Ravens hold Priory to just four goals. Aidan Braddock, who got the nod in goal ahead of starter Cole Hymer, finished with nine saves, including six in the second period. Hymer came on in the fourth and added three more stops.

“My biggest thing was, I didn’t want them to have easy goals,” Bittner said. “Holding them to four goals means we were working hard.”

Priory had trouble getting into any kind of rhythm in the opening period as the Panthers turned the ball over on their first four possessions. Sequoia, meanwhile, hit on three of its first four shots. Jay Kothari opened the scoring from the right point less than two minutes into the match.

That was followed by goals from the Ravens’ big guns. Matteo Chocano scored a pair of goals sandwiched around an AJ McDonald strike, the reigning Daily Journal Boys’ Water Polo Player of the Year. Those three goals helped propel the Ravens to a 5-0 lead after one period.

Chocano and McDonald, both juniors and co-captains, are best friends, Bittner said, who work well off each other.

Chocano led Sequoia in goals scored with five and assisted on a sixth. McDonald had a team-high four assists and was one of eight players to score at least one goal.

“Priory shut down AJ,” Bittner said, adding McDonald had six goals and eight assists against Burlingame Monday. Seeing him be a distributor instead of forcing his shots told Bittner that McDonald is maturing as a player.

“That’s what we needed,” Bittner said.

Alexi Bonnet added four goals and an assist for Sequoia, while Brandon Ackerhalt added a pair of goals to go along with an assist.

But it was Chocano who was the man of the match. After scoring a pair of goals from the right wing in the first period, he showed off his moves in the second and third, twice using a nifty spin move to lose a defender on the perimeter before driving and scoring. His first spin-o-rama put the Ravens up 7-0 and the second opened the scoring in the fourth for a 12-3 advantage.

“He’s been putting up three or four goals per game for us,” Bittner said.

Bittner mixed and matches his starters and substitutes throughout the second half and Priory (0-6, 2-7), after giving up five in the first period, allowed only six goals, combined, in the second and third quarters.

But Sequoia’s offense proved too much to handle for the Panthers.