He is finally out of the shadows He is finally out of the shadows (December 05, 2003)

Former De La Salle goalie has a chance to outshine his old football team by helping Stanford win title

by Rick Eymer

Stanford sophomore goalkeeper Chad Taylor labored in relative obscurity while participating on the De La Salle High boys' water polo team during his high school days.

Water polo is a fall sport, and De La Salle has a pretty successful fall sport in football. When the Spartans win the North Cost Section football title this weekend at the Oakland Coliseum, and claim their 151st consecutive victory, maybe some attention, however brief, could be paid to water polo.

Taylor, who helped lead his high school team to the NCS title in his senior year, will be trying to help Stanford gain its third straight NCAA title this weekend at Avery Aquatic Center. The second-ranked Cardinal (21-4) play Loyola Marymount (16-13) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the national semifinals.

Top-ranked USC (22-3) opens the Final Four with a 6 p.m. game against the United States Naval Academy (25-6). The semifinal winners meet Sunday at 5 p.m. to determine the NCAA champion. The Trojans and Stanford are heavily favored to play in that title game.

Stanford has lost to USC three times this season, but the two haven't played at Stanford yet, something that is not lost on Taylor.

"We love playing here," Taylor said. "We've only lost here once this year and that was in sudden-death overtime (to Cal in the NorCal tournament early in the season). We love playing in front of our own fans and we're familiar with the pool and the area. We've gone through some adversity this year and each game we've played against (USC) gives us more experience and a better chance."

Taylor, who spent his freshman season as Nick Ellis' understudy, seems poised to tale his place among the illustrious list of Stanford men's water polo goalkeepers who have earned All-American honors.

"The way I play is directly related to the defense," said Taylor. "The better they play, the easier it is for me; more shots are funneled to the center of the cage."

Taylor's association with Ellis, a four-time All-American, actually dates to Taylor's junior year at De La Salle. Taylor attended a summer camp at Stanford and Ellis was his instructor.

"That was my first real instruction," said Taylor, who began playing water polo in the seventh grade. "He pretty much taught me everything I know from the basic fundamentals to more knowledge of the game."

Even last year was educational for Taylor, who practiced with Ellis every day and watched him in the net as Stanford won its second straight NCAA title. Despite redshirting his freshman year, Taylor still was part of a national championship team.

"It was great to watch him play and practice with him every day," said Taylor. "To win the title was rewarding whether I was playing or not. After last year I pretty much knew I would be playing this year. It's hard to sit back and watch because I want to play all the time but it definitely helped me to sit behind Nick. It's made me more prepared this year."

Taylor's progress this year, which earned him second-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honors, is measurable. He recorded 12 saves, then a career high, in the Big Splash victory over Cal in the regular-season finale. The next time out, in the first round of the MPSF tournament, Taylor recorded 16 saves in a victory over UC Irvine.

For Taylor to become an All-American, it's likely Stanford has to win a national title with him in the cage. Each time the Cardinal have won an NCAA title, they've had an All-American goalie. Taylor could join the likes of Chris Dorst (1976), John Gansel (1978, 1980), Vince Vanelli (1981), Todd Kemp (1985, 1990), Larry Bercutt (1993), Jack Bowen (1994), and Ellis (2001-02).

Not bad for a kid who didn't get started in the sport until the seventh grade. Taylor was a swimmer first and developed into a water polo goalkeeper because of the time he spent as a soccer goalie.

"In summer leagues no one wanted to play in the goal," said Taylor. "Since I used to play goalie in soccer I just said I'd be the goalie, and I liked it. I really picked it up on my own until I went to summer camp and met Nick Ellis."

While football games at De La Salle drew sellout crowds in the thousands, including Taylor, who regularly attended games, water polo players were lucky to play in front of a handful of parents, friends and students. NCS playoff games would draw a couple of hundred fans.

Sunday's NCAA championship game at Stanford is expected to draw a sellout crowd of more than 2,000.

Taylor got to play in the NCAA semifinals last year in a victory over UC San Diego. He appeared in seven games total, starting against UC Santa Cruz and recording a five-save performance against UC Davis.

This year, it's all Taylor. He has started all 25 games and has 172 saves (6.88 per game) while allowing 148 goals (5.92). He has recorded 22 of his saves in the three games against the Trojans.

Should Stanford and USC reach the championship match, the game will feature two of the top goalies in college water polo. USC's Bozidar Damjanovic, who hails from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, was named first team all-MPSF.

One of those two goalie will end up as a first-team All-American. So, it's up to Taylor and his teammates. This will be Stanford's 26th appearance in the NCAA Championships. The Cardinal have won 10 NCAA titles, including back-to-back crowns in 1980-81, 1985-86, 1993-94 and 2000-01. Should Stanford defeat the Trojans on Sunday, the three-peat will be the first in the program's history.

Two-day adult passes are $25, while two-day student/children/senior passes are $15. Single-day tickets are $15 and $10, respectively.

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