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Nathan Mollat / Daily Journal
Serra’s Jake Folan cocks his arm for a shot during the Padres’ 16-2 win over St. Ignatius in the first round of the WCAL playoffs. Folan scored three goals and added three assists in the victory. |
As the minutes and seconds ticked down in the fourth period of the West Catholic Athletic League, first-round water polo playoff match between St. Ignatius and host Serra, the only question that remained to be answered was this: Could St. Ignatius score?
The Wildcats averted the shutout when Joe White snuck a shot past Serra’s backup goalie with 1:52 left to play. Jack Stabbenfeldt added another goal just over a minute later on a penalty shot, but it was far too little, far too late as Serra dominated the first three periods on its way to a convincing 16-2 victory.
Serra, the No. 4 seed, faces top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep at 2 p.m. Friday at Bellarmine.
Despite the offensive output, Serra coach Bob Greene was especially pleased with the Padres’ defense. The Padres held the fifth-seeded Wildcats to 21 shots with goalie Matt Prichett making 13 saves. To put that in perspective, the Padres had 24 shots in the first half and finished with 38 for the match. The Padres also came away with 21 steals and forced St. Ignatius into 16 turnovers.
“It was all about defense today,” Greene said. “Our whole [philosophy] is, we don’t want to give up goals.”
With the Padres playing lockdown defense, it opened up the Serra offense. And in Serra’s cramped pool, the Padres used their strategy of shooting early and often to near perfection.
“The offense has finally caught up with the defense,” Greene said. “Our hard thing was consistently scoring and now we are.”
Serra (4-3 WCAL, 14-11 overall) set the tone in the first period, scoring six times. The Padres added six more in the second period to take a commanding 12-0 lead at halftime. The Padres’ second-string started the third period, and after a few minutes struggling, Greene re-entered the starters and it paid immediate dividends as the Padres scored 12 seconds after the change.
Serra added two goals each in the third and fourth periods.
“We’re playing pretty well,” Greene said. “We had 10, 12 guys play very well.”
Eight different players recorded goals, while nine players also had at least one assist. Max Murphy led the offensive onslaught with four goals. But he was far from alone. Jake Folan and Quinn Curl each had three goals and Sean O’Halleran added a pair. Folan also had three assists to lead the team. Niko Velasquez, Curl, Derek Nightingale and R.J. Newkirk each added a pair of assists.
How dominant was Serra? Even goalie Pritchett pick up an assist. He threw an outlet pass three-quarters the length of the pool. O’Halleran caught the ball and in one motion rifled a shot past the Wildcats goalie to put the Padres up 14-0 in the third period.
The Padres scored in a variety of ways from a variety of spots in the pool and they made the Wildcats pay whenever they made a mistake.
“Every single time they made an error, we were trying to score in five seconds,” Greene said. “When [St. Ignatius] can set up on defense, they have a good plan.”
The Padres converted 1 of 2 penalty shots and were 2 for 2 on the man-advantage.
Serra will need to find a way to bottle up Tuesday’s success when the Padres face Sacred Heart Prep, the WCAL’s regular-season champion. As good as the Gators are, the Padres are right there, having dropped a 9-6 decision to them earlier this season.
“We have a lot of work (to do) from now to Friday,” Greene said. “They’re a very good team. But you know what? We have a pretty damn good team.” |