Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 08/18/1999 All articles from this issue

Stanford A boys earn bronze at Jr. Olympics

printer friendly version

By Pete Borello

Town Crier Staff Writer

Terry O'Donnell couldn't stop gushing about his Stanford 18-and-under A boys water polo team after last week's USA Junior Olympics in San Jose.

The coach wasn't only proud of what his players accomplished - Stanford won the bronze medal - but also the way they did it.

"It was a team effort," said O'Donnell, who also coaches at St. Francis High. "The team is extremely deep and everyone contributed. It was a great week."

Those contributing included Brian Avon, Kip Hermann and Geoff McCann of St. Francis and Richard Dunn of Los Altos High. O'Donnell said all four players were vital to Stanford's success. Avon and Hermann started on defense, while McCann and Dunn were the first two players off the bench.

Stanford finished with a 7-1 record at the Junior Olympics, an annual event featuring the top club teams in the country.

There were 72 teams in the 18 boys division, making Stanford's road to the medal round even more impressive.

It all started Aug. 11 at San Jose State, where Stanford routed Modesto 21-2 and Mercer Island 20-6 in pool play.

This put Stanford in the field of 64, a single-elimination tournament that started last Thursday. The team flogged Fallbrook 19-1 that day and then came back on Friday to win three more matches.

Stanford beat Chicago 16-2 and Orcutt 7-2 during the day and then took care of Golden West 12-5 that evening in the quarterfinals.

This set up a semifinal match with powerhouse ORCA of Orange County on Saturday at Independence High.

O'Donnell said Stanford gave ORCA a good fight, but wound up losing 7-4.

"We had opportunities, but our shots just didn't go in," the coach said. "Their goalkeeper made some fantastic blocks and a few shots hit the post."

Stanford rebounded from the loss later in the day with a 6-3 win over Long Beach Shores in the bronze medal match.

"That game went pretty much as expected," O'Donnell said. "We controlled the ball pretty well and played some great defense."

Avon's man-to-man defense against Long Beach standout Albert Garcia was one of the keys to the game, according to O'Donnell. Garcia came into the match averaging five goals per game, and Avon limited him to just one.

"Brian really neutralized him," O'Donnell said. "And since we didn't have to double-team (Garcia), it helped our counter attack."

Stanford held at least a two-goal lead for most of the game. Ryan Ford of Leland High led the team in scoring with three goals.

For the tournament, Ryan Chapette of Soquel High topped Stanford in scoring with 18 goals. Kris Barr of Hollister High added 15 and Ford finished with 14. Every player on the team scored at least one goal.

The Stanford 18 B team, which includes J.P. Heringer, Matt Garner, Sam Canning, Ryan Duffy and Andy Fuller of St. Francis, made it to the round of 32. The team was eliminated with a 5-4 triple overtime loss to Golden West last Thursday.

On the girls' side, the Stanford 18 A team was knocked out in the quarterfinals. Stanford lost 8-7 in sudden-death overtime to Golden Bear of Berkeley Aug. 10 at Independence.

A goal by Stanford's Rachel Saal with just under 10 seconds left in regulation play tied the game at 4 and forced overtime.

Saal, Lindy Spieker and St. Francis High's Tiffany O'Farriell each scored goals in the first two overtime periods, but Golden Bear stayed even with three goals of its own.

That led to sudden-death overtime, where the first team to score wins. Unfortunately for Stanford, Golden Bear struck first and moved onto the semifinals.