Serra holds off Sequoia in boys' water polo match

“I take a little responsibility trying to play my whole squad. … I felt like we had the cushion to do it,” Kates continued. “But everyone got good experience.”

In the opening quarter, it looked like it was going to be a Serra rout as the Padres scored on their first three shots on three straight Sequoia turnovers to start the match. By the end of the first period, Serra had built a 5-0 lead, with Sean Coffin and John Iwers scoring in transition.

Coffin scored three of his team-high four goals in the opening period.

Sequoia, on the other hand, struggled to get into any kind of offense, as Serra’s pressure defense kept the Ravens pinned on the perimeter.

Even when Sequoia had the advantage — the Ravens had a first-period power play — it could not capitalize, turning the ball over on the possession.

The Ravens didn’t even get a shot on the Serra cage until Sam Van Worth’s attempt from the perimeter clanged off the goal post as the clock ran out to end the first period.

The match changed completely in the second quarter, however, as the Ravens played Serra virtually even the rest of the way.

“There was a little bit of intimidation in the beginning,” said Sequoia head coach Eric Bittner, whose roster features just nine players and only three seniors, which leaves the Ravens just a pair of substitutes.

“We switched up our defense (to start the second period), a more aggressive defense,” Bittner continued. “(On offense) I told my guys to attack into the (defensive) pressure.”

In other words, Bittner wanted his team to take it to the Padres.

Serra opened the second with a goal from Roman Brush in the hole set, taking an entry pass from Dante Tarantino, holding off a defender and converting for a 6-0 Padres’ lead.

Sequoia gave the ball away on another power play before Derek Hymer got Sequoia on the scoreboard by converting a a 5-meter penalty shot. Serra scored the next two goals, with goalkeeper Zach Cain triggering a pair of fastbreaks down the left wing with Iwers and Flynn Chesler converting for an 8-1 Serra advantage.

Sequoia kept coming, however, with Matteo Chocano and Hymer, who led all scorers with five goals, tallying back-to-back scores to end the half with the Ravens trailing 8-3.

The third period opened with the team’s trading penalty shots and power plays. Hymer’s penalty shot in the opening minute of the quarter was saved by Serra’s Cain, while Chesler converted one for a 9-3 lead.

Hymer then drew one of his five kickouts to give the Ravens a man-advantage and this time they capitalized, with Drew Ostrander converting a Kristoffer Vinther pass into a goal from the point.

It was the first of consecutive goals for Ostrander, who took an entry pass from Vinther in the set, juked a defender and the goalkeeper and scored into an empty net to close the Sequoia deficit to 9-5 midway through the period.

Serra’s David Silvestre answered by bulling his for a 2-meter goal to push the Padres lead back to five, 10-5. But they did at to close the second quarter, Sequoia scored the final two goals of the period — Hymer on a one-timer off Vinther’s third assist of the game, and an AJ McDonald penalty-shot goal as the Ravens closed to 10-7 going into the final seven minutes.

Both teams had scoring chances early in the fourth and looked liked the Ravens caught a break when a Serra goal was wiped away because of a clock malfunction and inadvertent whistle.

But the Padres got the goal back when Reed Hagmueller came up with a loose ball and drove on goal, scoring to put Serra up four, 11-7, with 4:40 left.

The Ravens responded with the goal of the day. McDonald had an entry pass knocked away by a Serra defender, but McDonald won the race to the loose ball. From six meters away, McDonald scooped up the ball and let fly a backhand shot that found the back of the net for an unlikely strike that cut the Padres’ lead to 11-8.

They closed to two goals, 11-9, when Hymer took an Ostrander pass in the set and buried his attempt with 3:18 to play.

But Serra kept Sequoia at arm’s length and the Padres finally put the Ravens away in the final minute. Serra drew a penalty shot, but Coffin’s initial attempt was saved by Sequoia goalkeeper Adam Trinklein, who finished with seven saves.

The rebound, however, went straight back to Coffin, who buried his second-chance opportunity to go up 14-10. Vinther picked up his first goal on a power-play strike with under 30 seconds to play to close to 14-11, but the Padres ran out the clock to secure the victory.

“Overall, it was a good team win,” Kates said.

For Bittner and the Ravens, the experience will only help as the 2022 Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division champs are moving up to the Bay Division for 2023.

“Incredibly helpful,” Bittner said. “It was good for the guys to step up.”