Guppies Guppies (November 12, 2004)to the sharks

M-A girls go from predator to prey in the quarterfinals

by Keith Peters

The opening round of the Central Coast Section girls' water polo tournament is like a feeding frenzy, with the big fish gobbling up the small fry.

The quarterfinals, however, move quickly up the food chain.

"Barracudas and sharks," said Menlo-Atherton coach Rick Longyear of this weekend's competition.

Menlo-Atherton began the week as a predator, feasting on visiting Aragon in a 7-3 opening win on Wednesday. The Bears, however, could wind up as prey when they enter the St. Francis pool Saturday for one of four quarterfinals.

It will be No. 6 Menlo-Atherton (23-7) against No. 3 Palo Alto (24-6) in the 1:20 p.m. game, preceded by No. 5 Menlo (23-7) against No. 4 Mitty (22-8) at noon and No. 1 Sacred Heart Prep (20-4) against No. 9 Soquel (22-8) at 10:40 a.m. The busy day is capped by defending champion and No. 2 seed St. Francis (23-5) hosting No. 10 Santa Catalina (21-4) at 2:40 p.m.

The winners will advance to the semifinals on Tuesday at a site to be determined. The championship match will be Nov. 20 at Independence High in San Jose.

Menlo-Atherton and Palo Alto haven't played each other this season, but Longyear knows what kind of talent the Vikings have.

"It's going to be a swim meet for the top three or four girls on each team," Longyear said. "It will be skill rather than size."

Both teams are blessed with good team speed, which triggers their respective counterattacks. Longyear is concerned, however, that Paly may be too fast.

"We're going to try to shut off their counter, which I'm not sure we can do," he said.

The Bears did a good job of shutting down Aragon, jumping to a 4-2 halftime lead and then holding the Dons scoreless in the third period. While his defense sparkled, Longyear was frustrated with his offense.

"I don't like the fact we shot only 25 percent," he said. "Unlike the other day when we hit a lot of bars, we hit a lot of goalie."

M-A missed a ton of opportunities last week in an 8-7 sudden-death overtime loss to Aragon in the PAL Bay Division tournament semifinals. The Bears began Wednesday's match the same way, missing their first four shots. After falling behind by a goal, M-A rallied behind juniors Kelly Eaton and Heidi Kucera. Eaton scored three goals and had two assists and nine steals. Kucera added two goals and three steals while both drew numerous ejections. Junior Kelly Fero put the Bears on top at 2-1 with a pair of goals.

"We played some pretty good defense and limited them to a few shots," Longyear said. "But I don't like the fact we gave up eight or nine extra-man opportunities."

The Bears can't afford a similar performance against Paly, which is deeper than last season when the Vikings reached the semifinals before being eliminated.

"The tournament is very similar to last year," said Paly coach Steve Covec. "The difference this year is that we have a group of more experienced girls that can beat any team. The key is to get them mentally prepared and focused, especially the No. 6, 7 ane 8 players on the roster. I am not too worried about the top four or five; they will be ready, but the remaining players need to recognize the opportunity and be on top of their game."

That was the case Tuesday in Paly's 14-1 opening win over No. 14 seed San Benito. The Vikings scored in the opening 17 seconds and rolled from there. Sophomore Tanya Wilcox led 10 scorers with three goals, while senior Remy Champion and junior Phoebe Champion added two each.

"Getting the girls shooting with confidence is the key, too," Covec said. "We are working a lot of 6 on 5, as well. If we can convert those, we will win the game because teams are taking away our counter attack by dumping the ball on halfcourt offense."

Should the Vikings get by Menlo-Atherton on Saturday, they'll face four-time defending champion St. Francis in the semifinals. The Lancers aren't as dominant as in previous years, having lost twice to Sacred Heart Prep among their five losses. Paly also has beaten St. Francis this season, 8-6 in the Amanda MacDonald Invitational, so anything is possible in the semis.

Sacred Heart Prep also is favored to reach Tuesday's semifinals, but is in the bracket opposite St. Francis. The Gators should play the winner of Menlo-Mitty, arguably the best quarterfinal matchup Saturday. The Monarchs eliminated the Knights in last year's quarterfinals.

Menlo fell to Mitty, 8-7, earlier this season and struggled with illness and fouls against Presentation on Tuesday before emerging with an 11-8 opening win. The Knights lost sophomore Megan Burmeister for the game at 2:38 in the second quarter after she picked up two fouls and an interference call.

Menlo senior Kelsey Haley switched defensive duties at that point and guarded Presentation standout Julie Oreglia, who wound up with just one goal.

"We tried to play team defense on here and for the most part were successful in challenging others on their team to step up," said Menlo coach Kyle Utsumi. "Presentation never let up during the course of the game."

The Knights trailed at 1-0 but rallied for a 4-2 lead just before half, when Presentation scored. The teams were tied at 4-4 and 5-5 before Menlo scored four unanswered goals to take a 9-5 lead. Presentation never got closer than two goals from that point on.

Haley finished with three goals, as did sophomore Camy Sullivan. Sophomore Kim Krueger added two goals as eight of the team's goals came from underclassmen.

As young as Menlo is, Sacred Heart Prep is equally youthful. In the Gators' 12-1 opening win over No. 16 Independence on Wednesday, every goal came from a non-senior.

Juniors Melissa Mordell and Lauren Jollymour scored twice, as did sophomore Andrea Mobley. Nine Gators scored in the easy win.

The Gators should get by Soquel on Saturday. The teams met earlier in the SHP tournament, with the Gators rolling to an 8-2 win. Sacred Heart Prep has beaten Mitty, 18-5, and downed Menlo, 5-1, in tournaments this season.
Boys

The Division I and II tournaments begin Saturday, with top-seeded Menlo (27-5) and No. 3 Sacred Heart Prep (21-9) starting their anticipated march toward another possible showdown in the championship match.

The Knights open against No. 8 Soquel at Independence High at 2:40 p.m. Menlo beat Soquel in a regular season-ending nonleague match, 13-5. A victory will move Menlo into the semifinals, likely against No. 4 Los Altos.

The Gators take on No. 6 Aragon at St. Francis High at 9:20 a.m. The winners advance to the semifinals scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at a site to be determined.

Gunn (22-10) is the No. 3 seed in Division I and will open against No. 6 Serra at noon at Independence High. A victory will earn the Titans a semifinal shot against either No. 2 Salinas or No. 7 Leland next week. Waiting in the wings is a possible championship match showdown with defending champion Bellarmine on Nov. 20.

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