SHP survives, claims WCAL title

And then once a week, the Gators would roll over another overmatched West Catholic Athletic League opponent. So when SHP hosted St. Francis on the Gators’ Senior Night, it was just assumed the Gators would notch another win — and with it another outright WCAL regular-season title.

The Lancers, however, were no patsy. They went right after SHP, leading after the first period and at halftime. The Gators finally tied the match at 7-all going into the fourth period and took their first lead with just over four minutes left in the game.

But it wasn’t decided until SHP goalie Murdoch Baker-Matsuoka came up with a save with one second left to help the Gators escape with a 9-8 victory.

“Super disappointed with our intensity. … It felt lethargic and at half speed,” said SHP head coach Brian Kreutzkamp. “St. Francis is really good and they didn’t back down at all.”

The win captured SHP’s eighth straight WCAL regular-season championship with another undefeated run. While the Gators were assured at least a piece of the title even with a loss, Kreutzkamp wanted the bye in the WCAL team tournament that comes with being the No. 1 seed. The Gators finished one game ahead of second-place Bellarmine and two games clear of the Lancers, who settle for third.

“If we would have lost [Wednesday night], there would have been a (three-way) first-place tie and then you start talking about coin flips (to break the tie),” Kreutzkamp said. “We could have finished anywhere from first to third.”

But thanks to a second-half surge, the Gators retained their No. 1 ranking in the Central Coast Section and Northern California. Down 5-3 at halftime, SHP scored three of the first four goals of the third quarter, with Clay Carrington’s second 5-meter penalty conversion tying the game at 6-all with 2:45 left in the third period.

The Gators had a chance to take a lead shortly thereafter, but Carrington was denied on another 5-meter penalty shot by St. Francis goaltender Ari Rosenfeld with under a minute to play in the period.

It proved to be pivotal as the Lancers came down and re-took the lead on a shot from Finn Swanson, that took a deflection and beat Baker-Matsuoka to give the Lancers 7-6 lead.

But a goal from Nelson Harris with one second left in the period evened the match at 7-all going into the fourth quarter.

During the final seven minutes, the Gators started throwing their weight around. They drew three ejections in the first four minutes, converting on two of them. Harris gave SHP its first lead of the game with 4:10 left when he took a pass from Gates Gamble and drove in from the right wing and beating Rosenfeld for an 8-7 SHP lead.

A little more than a minute later, the Gators increased their lead on a Carrington strike, with Gamble, again, setting him up and pushing SHP’s lead to 9-7.

Harris would lead SHP with four goals, while Carrington finished with three.

But the Lancers weren’t done. Swanson scored on a counter attack with 1:37 to play and they got the ball back after Gamble turned the ball over with 19 seconds to play. St. Francis called timeout to set up one last play and despite nearly fumbling their chance away, the Lancers managed to get off a last-second shot, only to be stoned by Baker-Matsuoka.

“We were still recovering from the North-South Tournament. … Maybe this was a hangover. … But we knew we needed to be ready for this game,” Kreutzkamp said. “They just need to learn … any team, any day.”

Lady Gators secure undefeated title

Much like their male counterpart, the SHP girls’ team needed a win over St. Francis to secure an undefeated WCAL title and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament.

Unlike the Gentleman Gators, the Lady Gators had no problems with the Lady Lancers, rolling to a 14-2 victory.

And it was SHP’s Big Three who led the way. Senior Megan Newby scored a match-high four goals, senior Vivian Golub added a hat trick, while senior Natalia Szczerba added a pair. Sophomore Lauren Rossi posted a pair of goals for the Gators, as well.

SHP scored on its first three shots of the game and never looked back, leading 6-0 after the first period, adding four more in each of the second and third periods before taking their foot off the gas in the fourth.

The championship is the sixth in a row for the Gators and their ninth in the last 12 years.