By Dick Sparrer
Los Gatos wasn't tough to beat in the Lynbrook Rosenbrock Water Polo Tournament last weekend.
Nope. . . the Wildcats were impossible to beat!
At least, that's the way things turned out for the Cats as they rolled to the title in the local polo tourney.
Gatos won three straight games to get to the tournament title game, then whipped Palo Alto 13-10 to clinch the championship.
Six goals by Ivica Silov and five by Marc Cavagnolo sparked the Wildcats to the title-clinching win over the Vikings. James Rego added two goals for the champs.
It was the 10th straight win for the Cats, and the third straight victory over a Central Coast Section ranked team.
The Wildcats, who opened the week with a 21-12 league win over No. 9-ranked Monta Vista, beat Fremont, then took seventh-ranked Leland, second-ranked Live Oak and eighth-ranked Palo Alto. The Cats, 13-2 for the year, are ranked No. 2.
"The reason we won was because of our goalkeeper, Peter Beritzhoff," said Gatos coach Matt Anderson of the junior goalie.
Beritzhoff stepped in for the injured Peter Graff, Los Gatos' senior starter, and "he really stepped up huge," said the coach. "He had some incredible games and proved that he can step up and make us a championship team."
"It was definitely our defense that did it this weekend," added the coach.
But the offense wasn't bad, either.
Silov led all Gatos scorers in the title-clinching win. He just joined the Cats this fall after moving to Los Gatos from his native Croatia.
"We are definitely blessed," Anderson said of the addition of Silov to the squad. "Not only is he a very good water polo player, but he's also a very nice kid--and he'll play defense."
Silov joins an offensive attack force that also includes Cavagnolo and Rego.
"Cavagnolo is really the unforgotten star on our team," Anderson said, "but he stepped up huge against Palo Alto.
"And we have an All-American in James Rego," added the coach. "But in the four games we played against very tough competition, he scored just seven goals. It just shows how solid our team is."
The Cats beat powerful Live Oak 11-6 in the tournament semifinals. Rego and Chris Park led Gatos with three goals apiece and Chris Herr and Silov had two each. Cavagnolo scored one goal in the win.
Los Gatos had opened the tournament with an easy 16-1 win over Fremont. Sophomore Taylor Henricks pumped in three goals and Silov and Nicolaas Van Biene added two each to lead a balanced scoring attack for the Cats. Rego, Cavagnolo, Steven Westcott, Chirag Patel, Garrett Mills, Justin Shybe, Justin Greenwood and Grant Wernick each added goals in the easy victory.
Silov came back with four goals, and Cavagnolo buried two to lead the Wildcats to an exciting 10-8 win over Leland. Herr, Van Biene, Park and Rego also scored for the winners.
Gatos beat Live Oak 11-6 to earn a place in the title game. The Acorns went on to beat Cupertino 10-9 in the third-place game.
Los Gatos had opened the week with a 21-12 win over Monta Vista in Santa Clara Valley League play.
Rego pitched in eight goals, and Silov hit seven to lead the Cats past the Matadors. Cavagnolo supported with three goals and Graff, Van Biene and Hendricks added one each.
The Cats led 6-3 after a period and stretched that to 11-5 by the half. They ended up outscoring Monta Vista in each of the last two periods to clinch the victory.
Los Gatos is now 2-0 in league play heading into a game with Lynbrook this week. The Cats will battle the Vikings on Oct. 8, 5:45 p.m., at West Valley College.
The Wildcats won't be back in the pool for a game until Oct. 18, when they open play in the Connolly Tournament. Bellarmine, the top-ranked team in CCS, will be there.
"That tournament should be a measure of where we stand." Anderson said.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 9, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved