SHP’s Clay Carrington, shown here during the CCS final, scored a hat trick in the Gators’ Nor Cal semifinal win.
Both the Sacred Heart Prep boys’ and girl’ water polo teams will get a chance to defend their Northern California Division I regional titles after a pair of one-goal, semifinal wins Thurday night in Atherton.
The top-seeded SHP boys (23-6) hosted Nor Cal nemesis and fourth-seeded De La Salle-Concord (21-7). These teams know each other well. They met three times in 2024, including the Nor Cal Division I championship game where the Gators posted a 9-7 win.
The Spartans exacted a little bit of revenge earlier this season with a 12-9 non-league win in October, but the Gators won the match that meant the most.
Thursday’s match was nip-and-tuck the entire way. DLS got on the scoreboard first, but SHP answered with three straight goals, one from Teddy Parrett and back-to-back strikes from Clay Carrington, to give the Gators a 3-1 lead early in the second period.
The Spartans tied the game with back-to-back goals of their own, but goals from Gates Gamble and Ario Hanrah within a minute of each other gave SHP a 5-3 lead at halftime.
Oliver Marcin gave the Gators a 6-3 lead with a goal to open the third period. When Carrington notched his third goal of the match to give the Gators a 7-3 lead with 1:12 left in the third, they seemed in control.
Marcin increased the SHP lead to 8-4 with a goal to open the fourth period, but DLS scored the next two to close to 8-6. Gamble’s second goal of the match midway through the fourth period turned out to be the game winner as the Spartans closed to 9-8 with 45 seconds left, but could not score the game-tying goal.
Up next for SHP is second-seeded Miramonte-Orinda (24-6) for the Nor Cal Division I title at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at University of the Pacific in Stockton.
The Matadors opened with a 17-12 win over No. 7 Rio Americano before taking on rival and third-seeded Campolindo-Moraga in a semifinal match, with Miramonte holding on for a 13-12 win.
Like De La Salle, SHP also has a history with Miramonte, one of the few teams in Northern California that can be competitive with the Gators. The two have already faced off twice in non-league tournament matches. SHP beat Miramonte 13-9 Sept. 19 and completed a two-game sweep with a 10-9 victory Oct. 18.
SHP is the four-time defending Nor Cal Division I champion, beating Miramonte for the title in 2023 (13-10) and 2021 (17-4).
In the girls’ Nor Cal semifinal, No. 2 Sacred Heart Prep (29-2) had to withstand a fourth-period rally from No. 3 Acalanes (22-6) to beat the Dons 7-6 and advance to its second straight Nor Cal final.
SHP took a 3-1 lead after the first period and led 5-2 at the break. The Gators increased their lead to 7-2 after shutting out the Dons in the third quarter.
But Acalanes, which beat the Gators 10-2 to win the inaugural Nor Cal championship in 2019, came to life in the fourth, outscoring SHP 4-1, but coming up a goal short.
It was the second, one-goal win of the season for the Gators over the Dons, beating them by the same score, 7-6, Oct. 25.
Up next for the Gators is a rematch of last year’s Nor Cal championship game when they’ll face top-seeded Carondelet-Concord (27-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday at University of the Pacific in Stockton.
Carondelet secured its spot in the final following a 13-11, first-round win over No. 8 San Ramon Valley in the first round and added a 12-8 win over No. 5 Arroyo Grande in Thursday’s semifinal.
This is the third time these teams have faced off this season, with the teams splitting the games. Carondelet posted a 6-4 win Sept. 6, but SHP returned the favor 8-7 oct. 25
Last year, the roles were reversed, with SHP the top seed and Carondelet No. 2 and the Gators boat raced the Cougars in 2024 final, 11-4.
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CoastalBoy said:
I took a class from him at CSM about 20 years ago. Very good lecturer.
Dirk van Ulden said:
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