ANN ARBOR - With Rockford leading Ann Arbor Pioneer 4-0 in the boys water polo state championship game, it looked like the Rams would cruise to their second straight state title.
When they took a 6-1 lead into halftime, there was still no indication this wouldn't be the case…except for the echoes of "Wuuuu" reverberating throughout the Huron High School Natatorium.
The cheers were for Pioneer all-state goalie Daniel Wu, who wouldn't allow another goal the rest of the way as his team clawed back to make a game of the Michigan Water Polo Association state championship.
Though Wu's spectacular play helped Pioneer get back in the game, Rockford was able to hang on for the 6-4 win.
"We know every single goal is tough to score against this great goalie," said Rockford coach David McWatters. "Even though it was 4-0 we knew every goal was precious."
Tournament bracket
It's Rockford's ninth state title in 11 years. Such success in the program makes every state title seem almost a forgone conclusion to the casual observer, but that's far from the case.
The Ann Arbor Pioneer water polo team following its 6-4 loss to Rockford in the water polo state championships Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013. (Brianne Bowen | The Ann Arbor News) (Brianne Bowen | The Ann Arbor News)
"Every season there's a new set of challenges and every season there's a different sense of satisfaction," McWatters said. "These kids put in the work. Nothing's ever guaranteed."
"We work very hard all season and this is why," said Rockford captain Jacob Davis. "It's a ton of work…we try not to let up because we don't want to lose. We don't want to get beat."
Reizo Osawa put Pioneer on the board in the second quarter, but when he motioned to the crowd for them to get into it Pioneer still didn't look like it could keep up with Rockford. But even down 6-1 at half, Pioneer coach Will Hart said he and his players had faith.
"We always felt like we were in it because we were creating opportunities we just couldn't convert on the man advantage," Hart said.
It helped to have Wu, who came up with 21 saves, including 8 in the fourth quarter as Pioneer mounted its comeback.
"I don't think anybody who watched water polo today was in doubt that the best player in the state was playing for our team in goal," Hart said of Wu, who was named tournament MVP. "Anybody watching this game had to be amazed with two minutes left when he made five consecutive saves when they were a man up."
Though Wu could stop more goals from going in, Rockford kept getting the rebounds and the seconds kept ticking off the clock. Pioneer missed on its final shot and Rockford was able to wait out the final seconds.
Hart knew it wasn't the final shot, but the missed opportunities in the first half that doomed his team.
"If we had been able to capitalize on even half of them we win this game. That's the difference between the state champion and us. We didn't convert on our opportunities," Hart said.
Stephan Cress and Brent Trewhella led Rockford with two goals apiece and Osaw led Pioneer with two goals.
Pioneer beat Jenison 10-6 in the semifinal round and Rockford beat Huron 8-6. Huron beat Jenison in the third place match. Hudsonville finished fifth, Birmingham Seaholm sixth, Skyline seventh and Holland West Ottawa eighth.
CIF-North Coast Section Boys - courtesy ContraCostaTimes.com
The Campolindo High boys water polo team claimed its first North Coast Section title in school history, defeating two-time defending champion Miramonte 11-10 in the Division I final Saturday at Acalanes High on a last-minute goal by Dylan Fara.
With time winding down on a 6-on-5 opportunity and 26 seconds left on the game clock, Fara side-armed a shot into the back of the net to give the Cougars (22-6) their first lead since the second quarter.
"We called a timeout and set up a play to try to get an open shot," Fara said of his game-winner. "I was just the one that got to shoot it. Just sat there, looked for an open shot and put it away."
Miramonte got off two more shots in the closing seconds, but goalie Spencer Tagg stopped one of them and the other went wide. Campolindo soon began celebrating by tossing coach Miles Price into the pool.
Fara, one of just three seniors on the team, finished with four goals in beating the rival Matadors (19-9) for the first time in his career.
Miramonte, which got six goals from junior Jordan Hoover, has played in the last nine NCS championship games, winning seven of them.
The Matadors claimed the last two championships with late goals, but had the tables turned on them this year. Miramonte led 7-6 at halftime and held a 10-9 lead when Clay Smudsky hit an outside shot with 2:54 left.
But the Cougars tied the score on a Garrett Felix goal with 1:16 left and got a couple big stops from Tagg in the final minutes.
Senior Grant Sivesind finished with two goals, both on 5-meter penalty shots that he also drew.
It was the first time since 2007 that the Campolindo boys had made an NCS final.
DIVISION II
Alhambra 9, Redwood 6: The top-seeded Bulldogs earned their first NCS championship, beating the No. 2 Giants (24-5) at
Acalanes High.
Drew Cisterman scored five goals to lead Alhambra (21-6), which had made the Division II title games each of the last three seasons, only to lose in the final every time. On Saturday, the Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead and never looked back.
"We're a little let down because we thought we were going to win," said Redwood's Brandon West, who led the Giants with four goals. "We weren't playing hard enough, we weren't pressing hard enough, they wanted the win more and they went out and they took it."
Turnovers and Bulldog steals crippled Redwood, which showed flashes but couldn't sustain the momentum needed for any kind of serious comeback.
"We knew we could match up well with this team but it did show that they had more experience in the final game," Skylar Calandra said. "We were ready, but we came out a little slow ... we played hard in the second half but it was just a little too late."
Calandra added two goals in the second half, where Redwood actually outscored Alhambra 4-3.
CIF North Coast Section - Girls - courtesy ContraCostaTimes.com
Annika Jensen and Natalie Seidemann completed stellar Campolindo High water polo careers by combining for 13 goals in a 19-6 win over Miramonte in the North Coast Section Division II championship game Saturday at Acalanes.
Behind Jensen and Seidemann, both starters since their freshman seasons, the Cougars (24-3) earned their third section title in the last four years.
"I feel like this (title) is a little more special because I'm a senior and I'm leaving a legacy," said Jensen, who signed with USC earlier this week.
Miramonte (20-7) led 3-2 in the first quarter before Campolindo erupted for 11 consecutive goals. Seidemann, who's bound for UC Irvine, buried a pair of shots from two meters and hit another from outside to put the Cougars up 6-3 in the second quarter.
Then Jensen caught fire. She began her scoring surge with a counterattack goal before finding her groove on the perimeter. Four of her seven goals came in the second quarter, helping Campolindo take a 11-3 lead at half.
Kristen Hong finally ended Miramonte's long scoring drought in the third quarter, but the Cougars were well in control by that point.
Brooke Presten added three goals for the Cougars, and the Matadors' were led by Lauren Paxton's two scores.
Campo's only losses this season came against Division I champion San Ramon Valley. They beat Miramonte four times.
Division I
San Ramon Valley 9, Monte Vista 6: Kat Klass had two goals and an assist to lead the Wolves, who completed a perfect season and captured their third straight NCS Division I championship.
Klass scored the game's first goal less than two minutes in and San Ramon Valley (27-0) did not look back, as her sister, Sarah Klass, also scored twice.
In the second quarter, one of Sarah's scores came off an assist from Kat.
"As our team calls it, it's the sister connection, and we are lucky to have it," said San Ramon Valley coach Heather Johnston.
San Ramon Valley controlled possession for most of the game and never trailed, despite Monte Vista outscoring San Ramon Valley 2-1 in the third quarter to cut the Wolves' lead to 7-4 going into the fourth. However, the Wolves answered with two-straight goals to put the game away.
Courtney Fahey had four goals and an assist for the Mustangs (16-10).
