Saturday sweep leads to Sierra Pacific Championship rematch vs. Cal
Sierra Pacific Championship Tournament Schedule — Sunday, Oct. 23
Seventh Place: 9 a.m. — #8 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. #7 UC Merced
Fifth Place: 10:10 a.m. — #5 San José State vs. #6 Stanford
Third Place: 11:20 a.m. — #1 Chico State vs. #3 UC Davis
Championship: 12:30 p.m. — #4 Cal Maritime vs. #2 Cal
VALLEJO, Calif. – Highlighted by its victory over top-seeded Chico State, Cal Maritime won both matches played on Saturday, at PEAC Pool, to earn a spot in Sunday's 12:30 p.m. Sierra Pacific Conference championship match against Cal, the tournament's No. 2 seed, after the Golden Bears defeated UC Merced and UC Davis to set up a rematch of last year's title game.
The winner of this showdown between local teams — only 20 miles separate one campus from the other — will win the Sierra Pacific's 2022 championship and earn the right to compete in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's national postseason tournament.
Just over a minute into its match vs. #1-ranked Chico State, CSUM took and early 1-0 lead, and never relinquished that advantage for the rest of the afternoon. Up 3-1 through one quarter, the Keelhaulers stretched that lead to four, thanks to a pair of goals from Ian Diamond and another from Charles Jolly in the second period.
Even though Chico State pulled within three by scoring just after action resumed following halftime, Cal Maritime extended its lead to four 37 second later and never looked back as its defense stifled the Wildcats' attack for the rest of the match.
That 8-5 victory followed a 12-10 result over San José State earlier in the day, one that saw the Spartans lead the game for only 19 seconds until the Keelhaulers six of eight goals after their opponent snapped a scoreless tie with 2:42 remaining in the opening period.
Leading 2-1 after the first eight minutes of competition, CSUM's four unanswered goal became the ultimate difference in a matchup that saw SJSU pull within one, with 31 seconds left to play, before Kevin Kraatz sealed the win by scoring the last of his five goals in the final second.
In addition to Sunday's marquee matchup between Cal Maritime and Cal, Chico State and UC Davis will battle for third in a contest slated for 11:20 a.m.; the bottom half of the bracket includes San José State-Stanford at 10:10 a.m., to see who will finish fifth, and Cal State Monterey Bay-UC Merced opening the day with its battle for seventh at 9 a.m.
#4 Cal Maritime 12, #5 San José State 10
Cal Maritime Scoring: Kevin Kraatz 5, Ian Diamond 2, Ian Healy 2, Levi DeVries 1, Spencer Powley 1, Connor Wadhams 1
San José State Scoring: Nic Butlet 3, Adam Vashinav 3, Ian O'Neil 2, Zach Biver 1, Reid Sisley 1
#4 Cal Maritime 8, #1 Chico State 5
Cal Maritime Scoring: Ian Diamond 3, Aron Cameron 2, Charles Jolly 1, Kevin Kraatz 1, Jake Douglas 1
Chico State Scoring: Scott Metrick 2, Thomas Claren 1, Luke Walters 1, Tristan Woodall 1