A Tough Schedule Only Makes SHP That Much Stronger

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Brian Kreutzkamp handed the Sacred Heart boys water polo team a tough assignment: an unrelenting schedule against some of the top teams in the nation.

The Gators coach felt good about finishing fourth in the Elite Eight tournament at Harvard-Westlake last weekend and even better after host Sacred Heart Prep beat St. Francis, 17-2, in a West Catholic Athletic League match Wednesday night.

Menlo School took charge of the PAL Bay Division with its 9-5 win over Menlo-Atherton on Wednesday and both Gunn and Palo Alto won SCVAL matches on Tuesday.

"We had a difficult couple of games against the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 team in the team all within 24 hours," Kreutzkamp said. "We came back beaten up but we saw what water polo at its highest level was like. The important thing is how we do in league and CCS."

The Gators (3-0, 6-3) are tied for the league lead with Bellarmine, a perennial power, though it's Sacred Heart Prep which is the five-time defending WCAL champions.

The Gators played like it against the Lancers, scoring 13 unanswered goals at one point in the first half. The offense was spectacularly efficient, netting 12 goals on 14 shots in the first two periods.

"St. Francis was missing their best player," Kreutzkamp said. "But I like the way we responded after the weekend."

Sacred Heart Prep is not finished with those types of weekend. The Gators return to Southern California to take on virtually the same group at Irvine High in a couple of weeks. There's also the North-South Invitational, hosted by Sacred Heart Prep and the Bellarmine Memorial tournament.

"We want to play the best, Kreutzkamp said. "If you don't stay sharp the entire game you can look up and be down by five goals."

The Lancers got a taste of that Wednesday night as the Gators needed all of seven minutes to take a five-goal lead and were up by 13 early in the second half.

Alex Tsotadze led the charge with four goals, while Jackson Enright and J Clevenger each added three. Andrew Churukian and CJ Box each scored twice.

The Gators play at St. Ignatius at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.