Sacred Heart Prep boys look to continue successful season

The Sacred Heart Prep boys water polo team has traveled long distances to play against the best teams in the country so a Saturday afternoon trip to Aptos is no big deal. That's where the Gators (24-2) are headed as the top seed in the Central Coast Section Open Division for a meeting with eighth-seeded Soquel (20-4) at 5:30 p.m. this weekend.

Sacred Heart Prep and St. Francis are two of five West Catholic Athletic League schools in the top division, joining No. 2 seed Bellarmine, No. 5 St. Ignatius and No. 4 Valley Christian.

The Gators and Bells (17-10) are favored to reach the championship game, though Menlo will have a say if it gets past the Lancers. 

Bellarmine doesn't have a pass into the semifinals either, meeting Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division champion Mountain View (22-1). Like the WCAL, it's not easy surviving the SCVAL.

The seeding order, though, accurately reflects the regular season results. Bellarmine beat the Knights by eight in their only previous meeting of the year and St. Francis owns a win over Los Altos, the Division I top seed that reached the SCVAL championship match against the Spartans.

Sacred Heart Prep hopes to defend its Open Division crown and then compete for its first NorCal title. The Gators lost to Drake in last year's championship.

The Gators are senior-heavy and could have as many as eight playing in the college ranks next year. Larsen Weigle and Andrew Churukian are both committed to Stanford and Walker Seymour is heading to Harvard.

Menlo features a red-hot Sam Untrecht, who scored 19 goals in the Knights' run to the PAL tournament title.

Only the four first-round winners advance into NorCals, the result of not having NorCal tournaments for Division I and II.

WCAL champion Sacred Heart Prep (20-6) was seeded third and will meet SCVAL De Anza champion Los Gatos (23-2) in Saturday's quarterfinal at Los Altos at 2:30 p.m. The Gators have split two games with second-seeded Soquel (22-4) and lost to Leland 12-8.

SHP and Los Gatos also met in last year's quarterfinal, an 8-7 victory for the Gators. SH Prep also beat Soquel last year, 7-6, before losing to Leland, 8-6. It's a scenario that could easily play out again this year.

The Chargers ended Sacred Heart Prep's 10-year reign as CCS champs last season. The Gators reached the semifinals of the NorCal tournament.

Senior Nellie McAdams is one of the more experienced goalies in the area and is one of six seniors on the roster, joining Daphne Crum, Olivia Smith, Madeline Dennerline, Cameron Wu and Madeline Johnson.

The Gators have a nice blend of experience and youth, with sisters Annabel and Eleanor Facey among the top players. Sophomores Bella Bachler, Alexandra Szczerba and Meghan Norris have also delivered quality performances.

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