Sacred Heart Prep Gators going to the ’ship

“Obviously the team we were playing was really good, and it’s a team that had our number this season,” SHP head coach Jamie Frank said. “But really consistent, and proud our performances from people who are primarily not scoring all of our goals.”

The Gators certainly found their swagger at the right time as the win propels them into Saturday’s Division I finals. It will mark the first time in the four years since the CIF has instituted a regional tournament for water polo that the SHP girls team will play for a Nor Cal title.

“I think we were a little bit scared going into them the last two times, and I think this [time] we’re peaking right now, which is a great time,” SHP goalkeeper Ellison Brush said. “You know? CIFs, states — what a great time to be peaking.”

Brush enjoyed another outstanding performance. After holding the reigning Nor Cal Division I champions scoreless for most of the first half — until the Matadors (18-10) scored on an Audrina King penalty shot eight seconds before halftime — she anchored the defense until SHP built a comfortable 5-1 lead.

If Brush was the defensive anchor, sophomore wing Lauren Rossi was the emotional leader. Rossi not only shared the team-high of two goals with sophomore Kiernan Hogan and senior Vivian Golub, the sophomore added two assists, two steals and two blocked shots, all also team-highs.

“I’m just happy to be a part of something great,” Rossi said. “This is an amazing team and I’m just really happy to be here in this time with such amazing girls to lead me through this process.”

It was Rossi’s goal to start the second half that sent emotional waves rippling around the pool. Brush tossed a long pass to set the offense in motion, circling around the top for a wide-open Rossi. The powerful senior took aim from the perimeter to score, then let out a terrific yell that signaled the Gators knew they had this one in the bag.

“I think in any game you have to have some emotional leaders, and some leaders in the water,” Frank said. “And in this game she kind of did that both for us. So, it was kind of exciting, and really exciting for her. This was definitely her best game of the season.”

SHP opened with just one goal through the first four minutes, but each of the first five possessions produced a shot that was either on goal or that contacted the frame.

Hogan got the Gators on the board one minute in from the perimeter on a soft touch over the drawn-out keeper. The Gators then scored twice near the end of the first quarter, converting on a fast break with Rossi’s cross pass for senior Natalia Szczerba off the post. A minute later, the Gators scored off a Miramonte exclusion, with Szczerba wasting no time off the whistle to sling it in for Golub to score close range on a catch-and-fire to make it 3-0.

Brush went to work in the second quarter. The junior totaled six saves throughout, including back-to-back inside the final two minutes of the half.

“We have a game plan of what we want to do defensively, offensively,” Frank said. “But when things break down, it’s vitally important to just have somebody who can take it on her shoulders, and she did it again in this game.”

Golub then exacted her second goal 22 seconds before the break, beating the shot clock on a pass from junior Casey Coleman to make it 4-0. After Miramonte converted its first field goal a minute into the second half on a goal by Marta Maninetti, SHP rallied for three unanswered goals to close out the third quarter from senior Megan Newby, Coleman and Rossi.

SHP made it four straight goals in the fourth when Hogan beat the shot clock from a distance to put the Gators up 9-2 with 4:44 to play. Miramonte scored twice in the closing minutes against SHP backup keeper Isabella Dova, with goals from Bea Hearey and Ally Larsen.

The Gators will now host No. 2 Carondelet-Concord for the Nor Cal Division I title Saturday at 4 p.m. The two teams met twice in the regular season, with SHP earning wins of 12-8 and 12-7.

SHP boys hold on in 12-11 thriller

No. 2 Sacred Heart Prep (21-10) got two big stops in the closing minute and held off a late surge by No. 3 Miramonte-Orinda (17-11) for a 12-11 victory in the CIF Northern California Division I boys’ water polo semifinals in Atherton. The Gators will now play for their fourth straight Nor Cal Division I championship Saturday against No. 1 De La Salle. Game time at the Dunlevie Aquatics Center is slated for 5:30 p.m.

After jumping ahead 5-0 in the first quarter, SHP saw the advantage dwindle but never relinquished the lead. After junior driver Oliver Marcin scored his third goal of the night with 1:51 to play, the Matadors answered back with 1:22 to go on a Block Bliss score. Miramonte would possess the ball twice more, and both times SHP’s defense answered.

Goalkeeper Murdoch Baker-Matsuoka recorded his 10th save of the night on the first stop, with the Gators funneling a shot down to the corner for the junior to make a two-handed block. On Miramonte’s final possession, junior Clay Carrington came up with the steal to sew up the victory.

“To get those last stops to maintain the lead was really huge,” SHP head coach Brian Kreutzkamp said. “We were up 5 at one point ... and a lot of times if a team comes roaring back like that ... a team will panic and then eventually give up the lead. But I liked the way we just stopped at the end and played well.”

Carrington scored two of SHP’s first three goals, but it was early looks to Marcin, who earned seven exclusions throughout, that allowed the Gators to create space.

“I think two of those penalty shots in the first quarter were drawn by him,” Kreutzkamp said. “So, it really changed the tone of the game because they had to drop back on him, because he’s such a big, strong kid. So, getting those quick penalty shots kind of put them into a defense they probably weren’t comfortable with, and then that kind of set the tone.”

SHP sophomore Gates Gamble also finished with a hat trick, with his first goal boosting the lead to 5-0. The Matadors finished the first quarter with a three-goal frenzy, sparked by back-to-back scores from freshman Davis Gordon. The Gators kept them at at least a two-goal difference until midway through the fourth quarter when a Miramonte goal made it 11-10.

Carrington and senior Nelson Harris scored two goals apiece for SHP, and Gamble totaled four assists and two steals.