Woodside buries M-A

Menlo-Atherton took an 8-6 win in the first meeting in Atherton. Thursday’s match took on even more importance: a M-A win would have given the Bears a two-game lead in the standings with three matches to play.

A Woodside victory would move the Wildcats into a first-place tie with the Bears. So while no one was surprised Woodside came away with the win, no one would have predicted they would do it in the manner they did.

The Wildcats jumped out a 4-1 lead after one period and methodically pulled away for a dominant 12-5 victory.

“I was hoping we would win,” said Woodside co-captain Webster Antonchuk, who finished with three goals and an assist.

“Once we started scoring, everybody got into it.”

M-A (6-1 PAL Bay) opened the scoring with a goal from Evan Ten vaanholt minutes into the opening period. Woodside (7-1) had its first two shots saved and third banged off the crossbar.

But when Julian Hull scored the first of his game-high four goals, it was the first of four unanswered tallies by the Wildcats, who led 4-1 after the opening period.

As prolific as their offense was in the first quarter, it was the Wildcats’ defense that fueled the offense as they completely shut down the M-A offense. Antonchuk said the goal was to get the ball out of the hands of the Bears’ best shooters and then slough off and let goalie Calvin Pfeffer control the cage.

The strategy worked to near perfection as Pfeffer finished with 11 saves.

“Calvin had a great game,” Antonchuk said.

And then on offense, the Wildcats simply wouldn’t be denied. Woodside upped its advantage to 5-1 early in the second period when Toby Yuen took a pass from Antonchuk and scored from the left point.

M-A scored the next two goals, getting one from JD Coolican and another from Ten vaanholt to cut the Woodside lead to 5-3, but Joseph Hohl gave the Wildcats a 6-3 lead at break with a goal in the final minute of the half.

Woodside kept the Bears off the scoreboard in the third as the Wildcats added two more goals — one each from Hull and Antonchuk — as they opened up an 8-3 lead going into the fourth quarter.

And then the Wildcats finished with a flourish, scoring four more goals in the fourth period.

“We played the game we were suppose to play, but I didn’t expect the difference (on the scoreboard),” said Woodside head coach Bruno Antonino. “Our defense made the difference. It was almost the perfect game.”

But the work is not over for either team. Both have three games remaining on the schedule and the Wildcats’ final games are pretty formidable. They face a Sequoia team that they beat by a pair of goals, 7-5. Then they face a Burlingame team that had the Wildcats down 6-2 in their own pool in their first meeting, before Woodside pulled out a 12-11 victory. They close against Hillsdale.

“You never know,” Antonino said.

Girls’ water polo

Menlo-Atherton 9, Woodside 3

The stakes were similarly high when the Lady Bears and Lady Wildcats faced off Thursday in Woodside.

M-A had already beaten Woodside earlier this season and were poised to put a stranglehold on the division if the Bears could complete the season sweep.

Mission accomplished. Behind four goals from Sabine Polly and four assists from Harper Williams, M-A took control with four, first-quarter goals and pulled away for the win.

While M-A (6-0 PAL Bay) still has three matches left, head coach Lauren Lesyna knew a win Thursday would all but clinch the PAL Bay Division title.

“For sure,” Lesyna said when asked if there was any more pressure on this game. “It’s tough to celebrate. We still have to take care of business.”

Woodside (5-2) struggled to get much going offensively and when they did get in position for a scoring opportunity, M-A goalie Lexi Nelson was there to shut it down. A member of the youth national team, Nelson not only finished with eight saves, she also added a pair of assists and a length-of-the-pool goal to the end first period.

Woodside got a pair of goals from Margot Legros, while Helen Velleno added a goal and an assist for the Wildcats.

While Lesyna was pleased with her team’s offensive output, she was happy with the defensive effort.

“Defense was definitely a focus going into the game,” Lesyna said. “We knew the tiebreaker (to decide the PAL champion) was goals allowed.”