Photograph by Aaron Suozzi
Los Gatos goalkeeper Peter Beritzhoff goes up for the block in the league championship water polo game against Palo Alto.
By Dick Sparrer
Beating Bellarmine in the Wildcat Wrap-Up Tournament didn't mean that much to the Los Gatos water polo team.
It didn't help the Wildcats in their bid for the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division championship, and it didn't help the Cats in their bid to win a Central Coast Section title.
So it was a somewhat meaningless victory for the Wildcats.
Yeah, right!
The 7-6 victory over the Bells in the late-season tournament was huge as far as Los Gatos coach Matt Anderson and his Wildcats were concerned. Because the win came against the team favored to win another CCS Division I title.
"The first time we played them, they got up on us and held us off," Anderson said. "This time we got up on them and held them off. It was a total reversal of how the game went the first time."
The win helped the Cats improve to 25-4 for the year and dropped the Bells to 24-5. What's more, Anderson said, it cut into Bellarmine's momentum as the teams prepare for the post-season.
Conversely, the win gave Los Gatos a little momentum, and the Cats rode that head of steam to the De Anza Division championship.
Gatos came back from the win over the Bells to beat Lynbrook, Cupertino and Palo Alto in the league tournament.
Ivica Silov fired in five goals, two of them in overtime, to lead the Cats to a tight 14-13 win over Palo Alto in the league championship game last weekend.
The clubs were tied 11-11 at the end of regulation, but Silov scored two goals in overtime, and James Rego added one to help the Cats pull out the win.
The Cats were down early in the game. Gatos trailed 5-2 late in the second period, but scored two goals in the final minute of the half to tie it.
Silov led the Cats with his five goals, and Rego, Chris Herr, Nicolaas Van Biene and Chris Park hit two each.
Goalkeeper Peter Beritzhoff was a standout in the cage for the Wildcats in the win.
"A team like Palo Alto can score at will," Anderson said. "He had a very strong game for us, but them he's had a very strong season."
The Wildcats, now 29-4 for the year, had opened the league tournament with a lopsided 13-7 win over Lynbrook.
Silov led the Cats with five goals and Rego fired in three. Marc Cavagnolo supported with two goals, and Herr, Park and Garrett Mills added one each.
The Wildcats came right back with a 15-12 win over Cupertino, but the victory didn't come easy.
"We jumped out to an 8-3 lead, but then we let them back in it," Anderson said. The Cats led just 11-9 heading into the final period, but topped the Pioneers 4-3 to clinch the tight victory.
Rego was the scoring star for Gatos with six goals and Park pitched in four. Silov added four, and Van Biene and Mills hit one apiece.
Los Gatos will now enter in the CCS playoffs this week. Anderson expects to open play on Nov. 22, 8 a.m., at West Valley College against either Menlo-Atherton or San Benito.
The CCS semifinals are set for Nov. 29, 8 a.m., at West Valley with the finals that Saturday at 10 a.m.
It just could be Los Gatos and Bellarmine in that final game, and it would be a rematch of Gatos' recent 7-6 victory over the Bells.
Silov scored three goals to lead the Cats to that win and Herr added two goals. Park and Cavagnolo also scored for Gatos in the victory.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, November 20, 1996.
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