The Boys U.S. Club Water Polo Championships were held in town this past weekend, in an invitation-only tournament that brings together the nation’s elite youth club teams. Santa Barbara Water Polo Club was represented in all three age groups but its 16s team came closest to donning medals.
After an undefeated start to the tournament through five matches, head coach Rich Griguoli’s group of 15 and 16 year olds finished in fourth place out of 16 teams after suffering two straight one-goal losses on Sunday. Saturday was highlighted by an 8-6 triumph over previously undefeated Stanford, which went on to win the division with a 5-3 win over San Diego Shores in the final.
Mark Davis and Sjors Van Alphen both had two goals for SB against Stanford while Brady Moore protected the cage with 7 saves and 10 blocks.
“I think we came out in the semifinal a little flat,” said Griguoli, who got three goals from Chase Racich and two from Derek Shoemaker in the 7-6 loss to San Diego Shores. “It took the whole first half to warm up.”
In the third place game, Kevin Cappon tossed in two goals and Cameron Custance added another, but not enough to avoid a tough, physical 6-5 setback to SET.
Griguoli focused on the silver lining of the two tight losses, saying it will lend motivation to the team’s two-week training mission to Hungary leading up to the Junior Olympics at the end of July. The 16s team leaves for eastern Europe on Monday.
Santa Barbara’s 14s earned a seventh-place result with a 6-4 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday at San Marcos’ pool. After two losses on Friday, the 14s bounced back on Saturday with wins over Los Alamitos (11-8) and Los Angeles (9-5).
The 18s split matches on both Friday and Saturday, losing the morning match before winning the matinee on each day. Saturday morning’s 12-3 loss came at the hands of eventual division champ and fellow Group A member SoCal, which won its three group matches by a combined score of 43-10.
After the SoCal loss, Santa Barbara put together three straight wins to close out the tournament, including 12-7 and 16-8 victories over SET and American River, respectively.
All three teams will be heading to the Boy’s Junior Olympics in Palo Alto on July 25.
Check complete results for the U.S. Club Championships.
