For the first time in three years, the Bishop’s Knights boys water polo team didn’t come into the CIF Championship match as the top seed, but as been the case for the past five years, they exited the pool with another CIF Championship patch to sew on their letterman’s jackets.
Throughout their tenure at the top, it seems that every year it is an unknown player who sparks the Knights in the champion match. This year was no different. With a cast that included seasoned veterans Kevin May and Alex Pulido, the second-seeded Knights (24-7) received a breakout game performance from sophomore Scott Siegel, who led the team with five goals en route to a 13-8 Division II victory over the Santa Fe Christian Eagles at La Jolla High School’s Coggan Pool.
“I didn’t really think that I was going to come out like this,” Siegel said. “You can’t really expect something like that. This feels so great. I love being a part of this program.”
During the first 10 or 15 games of the season, Siegel wasn’t really feeling his best. The injury bug hit him pretty hard and he in turn lost a bit of his confidence. A busted eardrum coupled with a hyperextension on his finger didn’t allow the sophomore to hit his stride.
“Oh boy, was that a breakout game for Scott,” Bishop’s coach Jim Fales said. “We knew that he had the talent, but his confidence was sometimes lacking. Tonight, he had the confidence.”
If Seigel exuded confidence, then it was the usual consistent play from the seniors that solidified both ends of the pool. May and Pulido enabled the Knights to maintain a regimented calm that can only be nurtured through experience. This experience allowed the Knights to methodically pick apart their opponent where less-experienced teams might have panicked.
Surprisingly, the Knights were denied on their first possession, while the Eagles marched down the pool and took an early 1-0 lead during the contest’s opening minutes.
“Kevin is such a great leader in the pool in keeping everyone focused,” Fales said. “He had his hands full defensively but did an amazing job.”
May finished the contest with three hard-earned goals. On defense, he blocked several shots and forced the fifth-seeded Eagles (25-7) to take low percentage shots from the outside.
While May shored up the defense, it was Pulido who was the consummate team player. Pulido netted four goals but, more important, was the catalyst with four critical assists.
“It is really nice to see a senior like Alex Pulido getting big goals and big assists,” Bishop’s coach Doug Peabody said. “He led the team all year, the way a senior is supposed to.”
With the La Jolla game still fresh in their memories, the Knights came out of the break extremely focused. The Eagles had pulled a major upset in the semis when they came back from a 7-2 deficit against the La Jolla Vikings to roll into the finals.
“We knew that we had to stick to our game plan,” May said. “We didn’t want to become complacent. We knew if we did, then they were going to do the exact same thing to us that they did to La Jolla. We watched that film over and over again of that fourth quarter (against La Jolla), and we knew exactly what we had to do. It’s been a rollercoaster of season, but in the end, it’s all worth it when you get that championship.”
“I give Santa Fe a lot of credit,” Fales said. “They really came to play and they proved that the game against La Jolla was no fluke. We really did our homework the last few days in preparing for this game.”
There are just some teams that know how to win, and the Knights have proven this type of consistency over the last 10 years. This is a program that is steeped in tradition and continues to produce championships.
“I was looking at a picture of this group from the eighth grade the other day,” Fales continued. “There were 20 or so kids that started off in the water polo program. There’s a lot of great water polo players on this campus, but for many reasons only about three or four chose to stick it out.
“I am so proud of those that did. This is a program win. It is not only a team win but a program win. The support that we get from the administration, parents, coaches, scorekeepers, the fans and alumni has been a very rewarding experience for me.”