Cal Maritime defeats Cal to win Sierra Pacific Division Championship, advance to national playoffs
Sierra Pacific Tournament Schedule/Results
Sunday, October 20
Gm. 8: Cal Maritime 11, Chico State 8 (2OT)
Gm. 9: Cal 16, San Francisco 7
Gm. 10: UC Davis vs. San José State
Seventh Place: Stanford vs. Cal State Monterey Bay
Fifth Place: Winner Gm. 10 vs. UC Santa Cruz
Third Place: Chico State 14, San Francisco 10
Championship Match: Cal Maritime 12, Cal 9
Saturday, October 19
Gm. 1: San José State 17, Cal State Monterey Bay 6
Gm. 2: Cal Maritime 14, UC Santa Cruz 8
Gm. 3: Chico State 17, Stanford 10
Gm. 4: Cal 11, UC Davis 9
Gm. 5: San Francisco 18, San José State 11
Gm. 6: UC Santa Cruz 16, Stanford 7
Gm. 7: UC Davis 22, vs. Cal State Monterey Bay 5
VALLEJO, Calif. – For the third time in four seasons, Cal Maritime and Cal faced each other in the championship match of the Sierra Pacific Division's postseason tournament. By scoring three unanswered goals in the final 1:40 of the third period, the Keelhaulers snapped a 6-6 tie and never looked back as they defeated Cal, 12-9, to continue the 2024 season at the national tournament as Sierra Pacific Division champions.
The national playoffs will take place in Florida in mid-November, GoKeelhaulers.com will announce all information once locations, times and matchups are official.
Tied at six with just over two minutes to play in the penultimate period, Riley Kraatz, Kevin Kraatz and Joaquin Auger all scored in a row for CSUM; in a game where no team led by more than one goal, up to that point, Cal faced an intimidating challenge entering the final period.
Cal Maritime extended its lead to four when the Kraatz brothers each found the back of the cage, to take an 11-7 lead; scoring two of the last three goals was all the Golden Bears could accomplish to turn the final score into a respectable margin.
Kevin Kraatz finished Sunday's championship match with six goals; Riley recorded four; Ethan Osorio and Auger each struck once and CSUM goalkeeper Jacob Idris stonewalled Cal throughout the second half and earned five of his nine saves after halftime.
Competing in the first game of Sunday's schedule, Cal Maritime trailed Chico State on three occasions before R. Kraatz broke a 6-6 deadlock by scoring his team's go-ahead goal 33 seconds left in regulation.
In their final possession of the game, the Wildcats pressed and scored a desperation goal with six seconds left on the clock to force OT.
During the first three-minute session of extra play, K. Kraatz scored the only goal by either team to give the Keelhaulers an 8-7 lead before switching sides of the pool and commencing the second overtime.
Starting with Warren Cooper winning the opening sprint, Cal Maritime dominated the final three minutes of the matchup with two goals from Cooper and another from K. Kraatz, all scored within a 1:10 block of time, that ultimately pushed Cal Maritime into the Sierra Pacific Division's championship match.
When it mattered the most, CSUM's defense came up clutch and stifled the Wildcats' offense — one that started the game strong by scoring three of the game's first goals but only one in the six combined minutes of overtime.
Idris ended Sunday's first match with 10 saves and finished the day with 19 after his stellar performance against the Golden Bears.
The weekend started on a positive note with Cal Maritime scoring the first nine unanswered goals against UC Santa Cruz in Saturday's tournament opener. By the time the Banana Slugs found the back of the cage for the first time in the tournament — their first goal was recorded at the 5:05 mark of the third period — Keelhaulers' built an insurmountable lead that was never threatened the rest of the day.
By winning their first match of the weekend, CSUM advanced to the winners bracket and did not return to the pool for the inaugural match of the day on Sunday to battle Chico State.
Men's water polo will enjoy a brief hiatus before returning to PEAC Pool for its next scheduled tournament, the NAIA West Invitational, November 2.
The opening match of that weekend will feature Cal Maritime vs. Westcliff (10 a.m.) followed by Ottawa University (AZ) and the Warriors (1 p.m.). The first day of action will conclude with the Keelhaulers-OUAZ matchup; the teams with the top two records after the Saturday's round robin will square-off in Sunday's 10 a.m. championship match.
Cal Maritime 12, Cal 9
Cal Maritime Scoring
Kevin Kraatz 6, Riley Kraatz 4, Joaquin Auger, Ethan Osorio 1
Cal
C. Pine 5, K. Mohl 2, A. Adrian, C. Hide Jones 1
Cal Maritime 11, Chico State 8 (2OT)
Cal Maritime Scoring
Kevin Kraatz 4, Riley Kraatz, Ethan Osorio 2, Joaquin Auger, Warren Cooper, Matthew Turecek 1
Chico State Scoring
Evan Rolleri 3, Joe Stanbridge 2, Vinny Gaspari, Jack Ludington, Caleb Ray, Hank Wildenrat 1
Cal Maritime 14, UC Santa Cruz 8
Cal Maritime Scoring
Warren Cooper, Griffin Glassmire, Kevin Kraatz, Matthew Turecek 3, Joaquin Auger, Riley Kraatz 1
UC Santa Cruz Scoring
Charlie Lesser, Grant Winter, Ethan Joel 2; Glenn Grant-Richards, Grant Witt 1