Merced, El Capitan boys water polo teams both advance to semifinals with playoff wins.
The Merced High boys water polo team scored the first 11 goals of the game as they defeated No. 9 Del Oro 16-4 in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II playoffs. The top-seeded Bears (28-2) extended their winning streak to 23 consecutive victories and set up a semifinal matchup against No. 5 El Capitan on Wednesday.
Senior captain Reid McCall led the way with six goals for the Bears. Fellow senior captain Eli Hamm added three goals, three assists and four steals. Eight different Bears players scored goals in the game.
Hunter Gossett recorded two goals and four steals, Cord McCall dished out three assists and goalie Eli Morrison finished with eight saves. The Bears will host the Gauchos on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. following the girls semifinal that will also feature Merced against El Capitan.
El Capitan 10, Bella Vista 7 – The No. 5 seeded Gauchos jumped out to a 6-3 lead at the half and held on to defeat No. 4 Bella Vista on the road in the quarterfinal matchup. Joseph Rodriguez led the way for El Capitan (20-9) with three goals and three assists. Colby Schanze, Noah Ruiz and Liam Sanchez all added two goals each.
El Capitan’s Matthew Brown chipped in with four assists, one goal and two steals and goalie Jack Nutcher finished with 10 saves and five steals.The Gauchos will have the tall order of facing No. 1 Merced in the semifinals on Wednesday. The Bears swept their two Central California Conference games against El Capitan, winning 20-1 and 19-6.
Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.