Los Gatos boys water polo team moving in the right direction
Wildcats show growth by reaching CCS semifinals
The Los Gatos High School boys water polo team took another step in its development this season.
After finishing 2019 with a 4-8 record in Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division play, the Wildcats were 7-5 in the De Anza Division in a short spring season this year and placed third.
This season, Los Gatos also finished third in a competitive De Anza Division regular season and reached the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals.
“I think this was a great experience for them. For 90% of them, it was their first CCS ever,” Los Gatos coach Davor Koret said. “This year, we’ve finished third in the league. … Now we are looking toward next season and maybe making a step forward.”
Los Gatos’s season ended on Nov. 10 with a 14-8 loss to No. 1 seed Gunn, which hosted the CCS Division I semifinal match. The Wildcats, who were the No. 4 seed, finished with a 16-13 overall record.
Only two players on this season’s team (senior Cameron Moayed and junior Lars Schubert) were on Los Gatos’ last squad that played in the CCS playoffs in 2019.
The Wildcats bounced back from a five-match losing streak in mid-october to finish 4-3 the rest of the way, including a 1-1 record in the CCS playoffs.
Koret pointed out an interesting fact about that five-match losing streak
— all of the Wildcats’ opponents (Gunn, Stevenson, Harker, Soquel and Palo Alto) either reached the final in their CCS playoffs division (Gunn and Palo Alto in Division I, Harker in Division II) or played in the elite CCS Open Division (Soquel and Stevenson). Four of the Wildcats’ losses to those teams in the streak were by three goals or less.
“I don’t really think we changed anything,” Koret said about the team’s play after the losing streak. “I think it definitely helped us grow as a team. We stuck together. There wasn’t negative energy.”
In their CCS semifinal, the Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the first quarter on a goal from Liam Amburgey (with an assist from Moayed). But Gunn answered with three straight goals and didn’t trail after that.
The Wildcats answered with another goal by Amburgey to cut Gunn’s lead to 3-2, but the Titans scored two straight goals for a 5-2 advantage. Los Gatos did draw to within two goals twice after that: at 5-3 in the second quarter on a goal by Tristan Adams
(with an assist from Amburgey), and 8-6 in the third quarter on a long shot from the left side of the pool by Moayed. Gunn scored four straight times after that goal by Moayed, however.
Moayed led the Wildcats in scoring against Gunn in the CCS playoff semifinal with three goals. Amburgey added two goals, and Kyle Denison, Schubert, and Adams added one apiece. Jake Cannon, who was battling a sinus infection at the CCS semifinal, according to Koret, had seven saves at goalkeeper. A Wildcat who was injured for the match was Kaden Lin, a regular starter who had a shoulder injury, Koret said.
Los Gatos opened CCS playoff action this season with a 14-9 victory over No. 5 Los Altos at Aptos on Nov. 6. It was the first CCS playoff match that the Wildcats program had won since 2018.
Amburgey was a top goal-scorer all season for the Wildcats, while Moayed was a team leader in assists. Schubert stood out both offensively and defensively with his consistent allaround game, and Cannon led the team in saves.