After tense start, they rout Half Moon Bay 16-9 in the first
round of the Division II tournament Tuesday; quarterfinals
Saturday
SAN JOSE
Danny Robinson spent much of this past weekend mulling over Tuesday’s Central Coast Section playoff against Half Moon Bay. It could have been his last water polo game with Live Oak High School, and his team barely deserved to be there.
If not for Willow Glen’s victory over Sobrato in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Tournament consolation final Saturday, the Acorns would have missed the postseason for the first time in decades.
That, after watching LOHS suffer its first defeat to Sobrato two days earlier, wasn’t the finale Robinson had in mind for his senior year.
“We were all disappointed with how we did at BVALs, but we couldn’t let it get us down,” the always upbeat hole set said. “We had to get back to what we do.”
More to the point, what the Acorns traditionally do in November. The 10th-seeded Half Moon Bay Cougars, making their CCS-playoff debut, were subject to that after the opening six minutes at Lynbrook High School, where No. 7 Live Oak turned a tense Division II-tournament opener into a convincing 16-9 victory.
Robinson had a game-high seven goals and three assists, sophomore goalie Nick Hoffmann collected eight saves in his first playoff start, and Connor Haines led a veteran defensive effort by the Acorns (14-9 overall), who appeared to be in for more heartache after falling behind 3-1 on Jack Dobbrow’s 7-meter shot with 1:17 left in the first quarter.
The Cougars (14-5) took command early and weren’t doing anything special. Live Oak’s passing was off, its defense out of sync, and its shots were forced — a bad strategy against Half Moon Bay keeper Warren Jolley.
Then Mack Haines called timeout. Not wanting the game to spiral into another bad loss, the wily Acorns coach told his players to “take a deep breath” and focus on fundamentals.
They scored three straight goals to start the second quarter and did not look back.
“I don’t know what he said to them, but it worked,” Cougars coach Rich Bassi said. “We were in control, but it was short-lived. They just hammered us.”
As was the case in most of Live Oak’s victories over the past three years, Robinson was in the zone. He pounded home a skip shot off the whistle to pull the Acorns within 3-2, then scored off a breakaway to tie it with 6:17 left in the second quarter. Seconds later, Robinson intercepted a pass and set up the go-ahead score for Saul Orona, who had four goals.
“You just have to keep pounding it over and over again,” said Mack Haines, a Lynbrook graduate. “It was a struggle the whole game to be fundamentally sound, and that’s been the case for us all season. Fundamentally sound teams win. We just needed to play the way we know how to play and not rush anything.”
Thomas Meador scored twice to lead the Cougars, who received goals from eight players. They were still in the fight midway through the third quarter, trimming Live Oak’s lead to 9-6, but could not slow the Acorns’ deadly counterattack.
Connor Haines, a junior hole guard, made several key stops that opened up scoring opportunities in transition. Nathaniel Batey and David Molyneux, who had two goals apiece, provided strong help defense and shut down Half Moon Bay’s passing lanes.
The Cougars were held to three goals in the final 10 minutes.
“All the pieces started falling into place,” Connor Haines said. “We worked as a team to stop their offense. It was great seeing everyone work together.”
When Live Oak’s defense broke down, Hoffmann was ready. He said the game felt like any other.
“Nick’s been fantastic all year,” said Mack Haines, whose team kept a live an impressive streak of quarterfinals appearances. “All the kids look to him for his maturity — that sounds weird for a sophomore that never played until this year. He’s a great calming factor.”
In a up-and-down season that has had fewer ups than downs as of late, it was an experience for Acorns young and old to savor. Saturday, they face No. 2 Menlo.
“To be able to win a game at CCS feels … it feels huge right now,” Robinson said.
As halftime ended and the teams made their way back to the pool, Willow Glen players sat in the bleachers ready to begin warming up for their first-round game against Carmel later that night.
As he trotted by, Robinson clapped his hands in their direction.
