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In reaching the pinnacle of Central Coast Section boys’ water polo dominance in recent years, all roads have gone through Bellarmine for the Sacred Heart Prep Gators.
With the Gators riding a streak of 10 straight CCS championships, their last three trips to the Open Division finals have all been against SHP’s West Catholic Athletic League rival Bells, including a one-sided 16-4 triumph last season.
However, SHP graduated a majority of its Northern California championship team from last year, serving to level the CCS landscape. And while the Gators got past the Bells Wednesday night in the first WCAL matchup, the parity between the two was crystal clear as SHP escaped with a 14-13 win in a thriller at the Dunlevie Aquatic Center.
“I knew this coming,” SHP head coach Brian Kreutzkamp said. “It’s eye opening because … they’re really good and they returned almost everyone, and we graduated almost everyone. … But this sets up — CCS is not a given, but to win it this year we’re going to have to play a whole lot better than we did tonight.”
SHP senior Luke Bachler led the way with a season-high five goals, including the Gators’ final score of the night on a sprint play to open the fourth quarter.
“He gave us a really good presence,” Kreutzkamp said. “Their goalie is probably the best goalie in CCS. So, [Bachler] kept us alive.”
Bellarmine goalie Alex Hegeman totaled 13 saves, but it was a high-octane third quarter that took a bite out of his batting average. The Bells outscored the Gators 7-5 in the period, before things took a dramatic turn in a low-scoring fourth.
Kreutzkamp made a change in goal that loomed large, sending senior Orlando Hernandez Alvarado into the cage in place of freshman Murdock Baker-Matsuoka. Alvarado’s only goal allowed on the night came with 4:04 to play on Blake Wilson’s third goal of the game. The SHP defense held the line from there as neither team scored over the last four minutes of regulation.
“The third quarter was wild … and then in the fourth quarter things really slowed down and we started playing better defense,” Kreutzkamp said.
SHP (3-0 WCAL, 7-2 overall) jumped out to an early lead with Bachler capping a 4-1 run to open the game. And while the Gators never trailed after Hassan Hove’s goal gave them a 5-4 advantage midway through the second quarter, the Bells answered back, closing the deficit to 1 at two late junctures, including 13-12 at the end of the third on a Chase Barman score.
“They did a great job of just fighting back,” Kreutzkamp said. “It had all the looks of a blowout-type game … and I give them credit, they just never gave up.”
Barman, Wilson and Ryan Boschken shared the team-high with three goals apiece for Bellarmine.
The Bells (2-1 WCAL) keyed on SHP’s two top attackers, Jake Tsotadze and Will Swart, who scored two goals and a team-high three assists apiece. Hove also scored twice for the Gators.
With the win, SHP remains tied atop the WCAL standings with Menlo.
This story has been edited. The original version incorrectly reported SHP outscoring Bellarmine 7-5 in the third quarter. The correct score of the third quarter was Bellarmine 7, SHP 5.
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