For a third straight year, Drake High”s girls water polo team is headed to the North Coast Section Division II semifinals.
The No. 4-seed Pirates doubled down in a rematch of their MCAL championship victory, leading wire-to-wire in a 12-7 win over fifth-seeded Marin Catholic at Contra Costa College on Saturday.
Drake (20-7) moves on to face top-seeded powerhouse Campolindo on Wednesday at Soda Aquatic Center.
After trailing early in both previous match-ups against the Wildcats (17-8), Drake jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on Saturday.
“We reversed the roles,” Pirates coach Peter Galli said. “I emphasized the importance of getting out to a start and not having to claw our way back. We played a very composed water polo game and didn”t make a lot of turnovers. The start really set us off.”
And senior Quinn Galli, who was held scoreless by MC in Drake”s league championship victory, was the catalyst with a five-goal performance. She scored in every period, including a first-half hat trick to help Drake take a 6-4 lead at the break.
Erin Hollander recorded a hat trick, and Kendall Christie and Caitlin Gregory each added a pair of goals for the Pirates.
MC hung tough, led by a hat trick from Annie Ward, but Drake stretched its lead to 10-7 in the third. The Pirates then added a pair of insurance goals in the fourth to back up strong defense from goalie Katherine Podoll.
BOYS
Drake 10, Las Lomas 9
Freshman goalie Danny Roland racked up an eye-popping 20 saves to key the sixth-seeded Pirates” defense in a thrilling upset of No. 3 Las Lomas in the NCS D-I quarterfinals.
Drake will advance to its first semifinals since 2006, facing No. 2 Miramonte on Wednesday.
“It”s an amazing accomplishment,” Pirates coach Matt Swanson said. “It”s really amazing for a team that has never really played together to come together and gel like this in the biggest game of the year. It”s phenomenal. Everyone was a part of it. Our defense was amazing.”
Dylan Woodhead had a team-high four goals and Wyatt Hanson added two for Pirates (17-5), who overcame a one-goal halftime deficit against the team that bounced them in the quarterfinals last year. Drake regained a 7-6 lead in the second half and hung on from there.
Redwood 22, Ukiah 2
The top-seeded Giants made short work of No. 8 Ukiah, rolling out to an 18-0 lead through three quarters. Abe Massik led the way with six goals and Cole Donnelly had four goals and four assists for the Giants (20-7).
Redwood advances to a semifinal match-up against No. 4 Alhambra (14-9) at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday at Acalanes High.
Georgio Cico had five assists and Grayson Noyes added four for Redwood.
Alhambra 12, Tam 5
The fifth-seeded Red-tailed Hawks could not hold on to an early 2-0 lead, getting eliminated by the defending section champs in the D-II quarterfinals at Soda Aquatic Center.
Jackson Hettler led Tam (15-12) with a hat trick, and Connor Norton and Curtis Kopher had a goal apiece.
Northgate 13, MA 2
The seventh-seeded Wildcats” resurgent season came to an end with a loss to D-II No. 2 seed Northgate on at Miramonte High School. MA (14-8) had picked up the program”s first NCS win on Wednesday.
