Sacred Heart Prep girls' water polo team back to Central Coast Sections final

“We were able to follow the game plan and put our players in position to score,” said SHP head coach Jamie Frank. “When you play in CCS … it holds a different weight and sometimes you need that first goal to let you know it’s just another game.”

Leland (16-12), who has given SHP (21-7) fits over the years, was a formidable semifinal opponent and as such, the first seven minutes felt like two boxers feeling each other out in the opening round of a boxing match.

Both teams managed some scoring chances, but it wasn’t until Margaret Brandin broke the seal for second-seeded SHP with a fastbreak goal down the right flank with 24 seconds remaining in the period that opened the scoring.

Frank said he was OK with the lack of scoring because his defense kept the Chargers off the scoreboard as well.

“We had a couple of opportunities we didn’t take advantage of (in the first quarter),” Frank said. “But we limited Leland’s opportunities.”

Brandin would go on to score four goals in the match to tie for game-high honors. Leland’s Evie Burns also scored four times, two of which came in the fourth period with SHP comfortably ahead.

Natalia Szczerba added a hat trick for the Gators, while Jacqueline Hickingbotham scored twice. Megan Newby had a goal and two assists for SHP, while goaltender Paedrin Gillett finished eight blocks to go along with a pair of assists.

The goal late in the first period gave the Gators the momentum, however, and they quickly grabbed on to it. Less than 20 seconds into the second quarter, Hickingbotham scored on a bar-in for a 2-0 lead before Szczerba took an outlet pass from Gillett, drove the right wing and skipped a shot home for a 3-0 lead with 5:05 left in the first half.

With the Gators threatening to take command of the game, Leland answered back.

The Chargers scored the first of their two power-play goals at the 4:34 mark on a Burns strike. SHP answered with Hickingbotham’s second goal of the quarter, but the Chargers responded with another power-play goal off a shot from Tara Sarhangnejad. Leland drew a 5-meter penalty shot its next time down and when Burns hammered her shot into the left corner, the Chargers were down 4-3 with 2:32 left in the half.

The Gators had an answer, however, as they finished the half with goals from Brandin, Szczerba and Newby to push their lead to 7-3 at halftime.

Despite seeing Leland get back in the match with the power-play goals, Frank wasn’t too worried.

“I just felt like the goals were coming easy for us and they were really having to work hard for their goals,” Frank said. “In championship-caliber games, there are moments where, if they get one or two more goals, this game really changes.”

The Gators kept the hammer down in the third period. While SHP added three goals on strikes from Charlotte Summe and two more from Brandin, it was the Gators defense that took control of the match. SHP shut out the Chargers in the third period and led 10-3 going into the fourth.

Frank emptied his bench for the final seven minutes. After getting goals from Sczczerba and Kate Dioli for a 12-4 lead, Frank was more concerned about working time off the clock than producing any more offense.

The defense did give up four goals to Leland, but it was too little, too late for the Chargers.

Next up for SHP is a rematch with top-seeded Soquel (25-2) in the CCS title game at 11:50 a.m. Saturday at Hollister High. The two met in the 2021 championship game, with Soquel pulling out an 8-7 win. The Knights topped the Gators in the 2021 CCS championship match, 8-7.

The two faced off twice during the regular season in 2022, with Soquel coming away with wins each time.

Soquel beat No. 4 Los Gatos 15-2 to advance to Saturday’s title game.