Almaden Resident

Sports

Leland boys, girls sitting atop water polo standings

By Mike Barnhart

As the high school water polo regular season winds down, area boys and girls teams are gearing up for the post-season. After games on Oct. 17, only one Mt. Hamilton Division game remains prior to the Blossom Valley Athletic League tournament, Nov. 2-4 at Independence.

Leland's boys and girls both entered the week in first place, looking to raise their division records to 4-0. Pioneer's boys (1-2) were looking to even their league mark, while Pioneer's girls (2-1) were trying to strengthen their hold on second place.

In boys competition, Leland was coming off a 17-3 rout of Mt. Pleasant. Matt Eisenberg (five goals) and Max Dobrushin (three) were the top goal scorers for the Chargers. Sean Kagan, Scott Stuart and Matthew Abel added two goals each. Ryan Bole, Brian Angus and Chris Swan had one each.

Pioneer picked up its first win after tough losses to Leland and Lincoln. Kirk Kaubish's four goals and Sean Urenda's three led the way for the Mustangs in a 10-8 triumph over Evergreen Valley (2-1). Brian Lopiccolo chipped in with two tallies and Brian Nichol one.

The Mustangs and Chargers both found the going tough in the South Valley Polofest, a tournament hosted by Live Oak of Morgan Hill, Oct. 13-14.

After a 6-5 overtime loss to Carmel, Pioneer scored a 14-6 win over Woodside and dropped a 9-5 decision to Sunnyside of Fresno.

Meanwhile, Leland battled in three games decided by one goal, losing two of them. The Chargers lost 8-7 to Mitty and 10-9 to Salinas in overtime, and they triumphed 8-7 over St. Ignatius. Eisenberg totaled 10 goals during the tourney, including five against SI. Raymond LaRochelle popped in seven for Leland and Max Dobrushin five.

Pioneer's top scorer for the weekend was Lopiccolo with eight goals, including six in the win over Woodside. Kaubish and Urenda both had five for the Mustangs.

In Mt. Hamilton girls games of Oct. 11, Leland crushed Willow Glen 23-2 and Pioneer polished off Piedmont Hills 17-2.

Christy Stibbe's six goals paced the Chargers' offense. Courtney Monsees and Kylie Sarpa tallied three apiece, while Hannah Duckworth, Elena Santamaria, Lauren Sheridan and Kelsey Nolan all had two. Emma Schortek, Andrea Henneman and Courtney Gold rounded out the scoring with one each.

Taylor Feezor scored four goals to lead Pioneer's win. Elyssa Samson, Kim Atala and Abby Lineberry all scored three. Shawna Reed added two and Alexandra York and Megan Peterson one.

In regular season boys finales on Oct. 24, Leland will oppose Evergreen at Sobrato and Pioneer will play at Live Oak at 4 p.m. In girls games at Live Oak, Leland will tangle with Evergreen at 5 p.m. and Pioneer will take on host Live Oak at 8 p.m.