Top seeded West Valley put an emphatic stamp on northern California water polo by inundating Modesto and Sierra on its way to its fifth NorCal regional title in six years at the 3C2A NorCal Regional Championship at College of Marin.
The Vikings (28-3) roll into this weekend's state championship, also at Marin, as the north's top seed, eager to avenge a thrilling 9-7 overtime loss to Golden West in the 2022 state title game.
WVC led 10-0 after the 1st and added seven more in the 2nd for an insurmountable 17-1 advantage at halftime. 3rd-seeded Sierra (15-13) came to life in the 3rd, outscoring the Vikings 5-4 behind two goals each from Chris Nihart and Hank Wildenradt.
A 5-1 Viking 4th put it away.
Berkecan Yalcin, as he often does, led the Vikings with a game-high six goals, followed by four from Ethan MacLeod, three each from Nathan Arakawa, Taine Pickering and Shayan Rezvani. Mateja Cetkovic and Phil Portisch added two apiece. Ethan Ivey, who, thanks to a impenetrable WVC defense, was rarely called into action, picked up the win in the cage.
Sierra was paced by Nihart and Wildenradt with two goals each, while Igor Fedun and Jacob Pfanestiel added one goal apiece.
West Valley opened with an impressive 20-5 semifinal round win over Modesto (17-15). Portisch was a force of nature with five total goals in the 2nd and 3rd, on his way to a game-high six. Yalcin had a goal in each quarter, while MacLeod and Rezvani finished with three each. Terrence O'Donnell and Pickering had a pair of scores apiece. Luca Antonino and Wyatt Beymer each played a half in goal, with Antonino getting credit for the win.
"We played well this past weekend," said Viking coach Willo Rodriguez. "We have a few things to work on before we head out to the state championship."
"It will be a very challenging tournament in that we have to play three hard games in a row," Rodriguez added. "It will be difficult for sure, but I'm sure it will also be fun."
The 3C2A Men's Water Polo State Championship will be held Nov. 16-18 at the College of Marin in Novato. Visit the #C2A website for information about tickets and lodging:
https://www.cccaasports.org/sports/wwaterpolo/Championships
Article courtesy of Matt Folsom, 3C2A