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Palo Alto Online

SHP boys win soccer tournament

by Keith Peters

Despite losing 10 players off last season's Central Coast Section Division III championship soccer team, Sacred Heart Prep hasn't lost a step.

The Gators, in fact, won their third straight Gator Classic tournament last weekend with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the King's Academy.

Sacred Heart Prep (3-0) trailed by 1-0 at halftime, when coach Juan Camahort settled his team down with talk of patience and fundamentals.

"I told them to concentrate on ball possession," said Camahort, who pointed to the aggressive defense of the King's Academy as giving his team fits.

The Gators came out in the second half and took control like Camahort had asked, moving the ball well at midfield and to the wings. SHP deadlocked the match quickly when Andrew Moiseff took a corner kick from Spencer Lucian and headed it home. Andrew Dryden made it 2-1 moments later with a hard shot.

After the visitors rallied to tie, junior Jeff Loomis took control late in the match. He dribbled past two defenders and fired a shot into the right corner of the net for the game-winner.

Loomis produced four goals in the three tournament wins while Camahort praised the effort of Moiseff, who helped control play from his center-midfield post.

Boys water polo

Menlo and Sacred Heart Prep both qualified for the annual "state" tournament later this season with solid performances at the Schmitt Invitational last weekend in San Jose.

The top eight teams qualified from the Schmitt, with Menlo duplicating its third-place effort of last season while the Gators were a solid fourth.

Perhaps more important than those finishes was the matchup that produced them. The Knights and Gators met in the third-place match, with Menlo holding off its local rival, 4-3.

"I was very happy with the finish," said Menlo coach Jack Bowen. "The Sacred Heart match was really the big one. They have great players."

This is potentially Sacred Heart Prep's best season ever, with a solid core of veteran, tournament-tested players plus a veteran coach in former Stanford head coach Dante Dettamanti.

In their first meeting, however, Bowen (a former Stanford goalie who played for Dettamanti) got the better of his former coach. The Knights jumped to a 4-0 lead before Bowen subbed and the Gators charged back.

"Defense was the key," Bowen said of the match and the tournament finish. "Defensively, we played great."

Equally impressive for Menlo was its scoring, most often spread among six players. Andy Suiter led the way with nine goals while Taylor Wells added seven goals and seven assists. Steven Wright had four goals, two against Bellarmine, and played big time defensively at the two-meter position. In his debut with Menlo, goalie transfer Jimmy Sandman from Los Altos High allowed an average of just 3.5 goals per match against some of the top teams in Northern California.

Freshman Ben Hohl caught Bowen's eye with his scoring and defense while sophomore Matt Hudnal also contributed. Both played nearly every minute against Bellarmine.

Menlo fell to Bellarmine in the semifinals, 6-4, while Sacred Heart Prep was edged by Miramonte in overtime, 7-6. The Gators also defeated defending CCS Division II champ Soquel and topped Jesuit.

Gunn, meanwhile, went 3-2 in the tournament and capped its effort with a big 11-5 win over rival Palo Alto in the final round. Siddharth Menon led the Titans with five goals against the Vikings and 13 for the tournament. Arjan Ligtenberg added 11 goals.

Palo Alto and Lynbrook will be the sites this weekend for the annual Palo Alto Invitational, which begins Friday.
Girls water polo

Steve Covec made his coaching debut for Palo Alto a successful one last weekend by guiding the Knights to third place in the 32-team Clovis West Invitational.

Playing in 100-plus heat, Paly went 4-1 behind the scoring efforts of sisters Remy and Phoebe Champion. Remy, a junior, scored 13 goals and added nine assists. She earned all-tournament honors. Phoebe, a sophomore, tallied 10 goals. Her best effort included four goals in Paly's 7-4 win over Soquel in the third-place game.

The Vikings opened with a 13-1 romp over Merced and followed that with a 10-1 win over Lemoore. After outscoring Menlo-Atherton in the third round, 10-4, Paly fell to Clovis West, 9-5, before toppling Soquel.

Other top Paly players included Emma Feeney, Brittany Webster and freshman Tanya Wilcox. Jillian Rubenstein was a standout as the Vikings' starting goalie.

Menlo-Atherton, meanwhile, finished eighth in the tournament behind the outstanding individual effort of sophomore Kelly Eaton. She scored 21 goals and added 17 steals to help the Bears fashion a 2-3 record. Rita Bullwinkel and Kelly Fero also played well in their varsity debuts while senior Mia Tomijima scored three times and was solid as the Bears' two-meter defender. Junior Hillary Sinnott handled the goalie duties.

Some of the top local teams will be back in action this weekend at the Dennis Fosdick Peninsula Challenge at Castilleja School.

Friday's schedule finds Castilleja hosting Menlo at 2:30 p.m., Aragon testing Palo Alto at 3:25 p.m., Menlo taking on Gunn at 4:20 p.m., Menlo-Atherton facing Aragon at 5:15 p.m., Castilleja and Gunn meeting at 6:10 p.m. and Palo Alto squaring off against Menlo-Atherton at 7:05 p.m. Matches continue Saturday, with the championship match set for 3 p.m.

Menlo and Castilleja already have met this season, with the Knights coasting to a 10-1 nonleague victory last Friday at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. Camy Sullivan tallied three goals while Katie Hagey and Megan Burmeister added two each for Menlo (1-1), which dropped a 7-3 decision to Rio Americano on Saturday morning.