Back-and-forth battle leads to fourth-place finish

Sierra Pacific Division Tournament - Final Results

Saturday, Oct. 14
Game 1: 8:50 a.m. – Chico State 11, UC Santa Cruz 5
Game 2: 10 a.m. – Cal 20, Cal State Monterey Bay 2
Game 3: 11:10 a.m. – Cal Maritime 14, San Jose State 13
Game 4: 12:20 p.m. – Stanford 12, UC Santa Cruz 7
Game 5: 1:30 p.m. – San Jose State 13, Cal State Monterey Bay 7
Game 6: 2:40 p.m. – Chico State 11, Stanford 10
Game 7: 3:50 p.m. – Cal 10, Cal Maritime 9

Sunday, Oct. 15
Game 8: 9 a.m. – UC Santa Cruz 10, Cal State Monterey Bay 4
Game 9: 10:10 a.m. – Stanford 15, Cal Maritime 11 (Third Place)
Game 10: 11:20 a.m. – Cal 14, Chico State 5 (Championship Match)
Game 11: 12:30 p.m. – San Jose State 14, UC Santa Cruz 6

VALLEJO, Calif. – Kevin Kraatz led all Keelhaulers in scoring with five goals, Ethan Osorio added another three, Matthew Turecek and Marcos Ortega ended with two and one goal apiece versus Stanford in Sunday's Sierra Pacific Tournament Third Place Game at PEAC Pool.

In addition to CSUM's quartet of scorers, Dillon Quinn came up with one clutch save after another from the opening whistle to the final horn, as water polo fans were treated to a defensive battle throughout most of the morning.

Even though the Cardinal jumped out to an early three-goal lead, Kraatz trimmed his team's deficit to two by scoring the final goal of the first quarter.

Turecek scored his first goal of the morning at the 6:34 mark of the second period, followed by Ororio's first goal of the quarter — two of his three on the day took place during this seven-minute block of action — which pulled CSUM even with Stanford at five apiece.

The Keelhaulers' scoring streak continued before halftime with Kraatz and Osorio extending their team's run to five unanswered, giving Cal Maritime a 7-5 lead in the process, with 53 seconds left until the break.

The Cardinal responded to CSUM's scoring outburst with one of their own; by scoring the final goal of the opening half and the first after halftime, the teams were deadlocked at 7-7.

Clutch plays on defense forced a back-and-forth battle as the third period progressed and the fourth quarter commenced; the ultimate difference in this matchup took place with 3:31 left in the match because that is when Stanford created some distance from the Keelhaulers by scoring its third straight goal to create a three-goal cushion.

Even though CSUM scored twice throughout the final two minutes, Stanford responded with goals of its own to maintain that three-goal lead in a match that ended in its favor, 15-11.

"It'e been great to see the team's progression throughout the season," said head coach Matt De Trane. "We had a couple one-goal games that were exciting battles; to see our team experience adversity, fight through it, grow and gain momentum, this weekend's tournament was an important experience that will help everyone prepare for our next tournament in November."

Even though Sierra Pacific Conference play concluded for CSUM on Sunday, one event still remains on the Keelhaulers' schedule: the NAIA Finals, hosted by UC Merced from November 10-12. 

Scoring Summary

Stanford 15, Cal Maritime 11

Cal Maritime Scoring
Kevin Kraatz 5, Ethan Osorio 3, Matthew Turecek 2, Marcos Ortega 1

Stanford Scoring
N. Bisconti 6, B. Mcaulay 3, #16 2, K. Dheeriya, D. Jatwa, C. Vaughn, A. Walsh 1