Woodside boys' water polo falls short in Central Coast Section Division I semifinals

The other thing Antonino knew was that the two teams would meet again.

And meet again they did — Wednesday in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Division I bracket.

The rematch was nothing like the first meeting. When Palo Alto took a 1-0 lead on a Julien Chow strike from in front, it was a sign of things to come.

The Wildcats spent the rest of the night chasing the Vikings but could never quite catch them as the second-seed Woodside fell 13-11 to No. 3 Palo Alto in Palo Alto.

“I told him (the Palo Alto coach) it would be a big battle [Wednesday],” Antonino said.

Palo Alto is led by a familiar face: Bob Greene, who spent 14 years coaching at Aragon followed by 13 at Serra before stepping down following the 2017 season.

He had guided both Aragon and Serra to semifinal appearances in the CCS tournament, but didn’t take over the Vikings program until August.

Now Greene has led a third program to a CCS semifinal appearance, but this will be Greene’s first appearance in a CCS championship game.

“We’re peaking at the right time,” Greene said. “I’m going to give ourselves a 9.9 (out of 10). There weren’t many mistakes.”

Not only did the Vikings make few mistakes, they had a shooting night that would make the likes of Sacred Heart Prep proud.

Palo Alto stressed quality over quantity. Both teams managed to get off 20 shots — but the Vikings connected on 13 of them. Through the first three periods, Palo Alto had scored on 11 of 14 shots — that’s 79% shooting.

“That’s insane,” Greene said. “That doesn’t happen.”

In the opening period, Palo Alto scored four goals on four shots. In the second, the Viking were 5 for 7 and in the third, 2 for 4.

Antonino, however, believed his team contributed to the Vikings strong shooing performance.

“Our defense was a mess in the first half. … Our defense didn’t work at all,” Antonino said. “We left people open right in front of the goal.”

Even more frustrating was the Wildcats not getting a stop when they needed one. Every time it looked like they grabbed back momentum, Palo Alto would score and swing the pendulum back to the Vikings.

Chow’s goal early in the first period gave his team a huge lift. The Santa Clara Valley Athletic League MVP, Chow scored a match-high six goals, including a couple for his highlight reel.

“When your leading scorer, the league MVP, starts right off the bat with an impressive goal, it sets the tone,” Greene said.

After Chow’s opening goal, Woodside came back with a strike from Jake Anderson in the set.

But a pair of Palo Alto goals about minute apart late in the first period gave the Vikings a lead they would never relinquish and led 4-2 after the first period.

The second quarter turned into a video game as both teams went back and forth, combining for nine goals — none of which was more than a minute after the previous goal.

Ryan Mills opened the second-period scoring for Woodside on a drive from the right wing, but 23 seconds later, Chow scored off a rebound in front.

Jake Anderson came back for Woodside 56 seconds later, but a half minute later, Palo Alto’s lead was two goals again, 6-4 with 3:07 left in the half.

Woodside’s leading scorer, Andrew Mills, finally got on the scoreboard 21 seconds later, converting a 5-meter penalty shot.

But, again, the Wildcats could not stop the Vikings, who regained a two-goal advantage, 7-5, 17 seconds later.

Ryan Mills walked in from the right wing for a goal 59 seconds later, but Palo Alto scored two more goals over the final 1:16 of the period to lead 9-6 at halftime.

The Woodside defense improved in the second half, as the Wildcats limited Palo Alto to just four goals, but Woodside could never quite get over the hump. The Vikings led 11-8 after three period and Woodside cut it to two, 11-9, when Ryan Mills scored a power-play goal to open the fourth period.

But a backhand goal and an alley-oop one-timer from Chow pushed the Vikings’ lead back to three, 13-10, with 2:30 left to play.

Andrew and Ryan Mills each scored four goals to lead Woodside, while Anderson added a hat trick.

“Offensively, we scored 11 goals, which is a good number, generally,” Antonino said. “But we wasted many chances.”

Open Division

No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep 23, No. 4 Valley Christian 6

The Gators will play for a 10th straight CCS title after beating the Warriors in the Open Division semifinals at St. Francis High School in Mountain View Wednesday night.

Leading 5-0 after the first period, SHP (24-3) took complete control of the match with a eight-goal second period.

Gavin West paced the SHP offense, finishing with four goals. Jack Vort added a hat trick for the Gators, while Nelson Harris, Hassen Hove, Jake Tsotadze and Luke Bachler all scored twice.

SHP will now face third-seeded Bellarmine (17-11) Saturday at San Benito High School at a time to be determined. The Bells beat second-seeded Menlo School 10-9 in the other semifinal.

This will be the third straight championship match between these teams. SHP won 7-5 in 2019. In 2018, the teams were declared co-champions after the title game was canceled because of the wildfires that year.

Girls’ water polo

Open Division

No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep 10, No. 4 St. Francis 6

The top-seeded Gators advanced to the CCS Open Division championship match with the win over WCAL rival and fourth-seeded Lancers.

Brienz Lang led the offense for SHP (26-2), scoring a hat trick. Natalia Szczerba added a pair of goals for the Gators, while Ella Woodhead had a goal to go along with a team-high three assists.

The Gators will face second-seeded Soquel (24-3), which beat longtime SHP nemesis Leland in the other semifinal match, 16-10. SHP and the Knights will meet for the CCS title Saturday at San Benito High School at a time to be determined.