Piedmont falls in Division 1
The Piedmont High School boys water polo team earned a historic distinction this season, gaining the first North Coast Section Division 1 playoff berth in program history. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, it was a short tournament as they fell to top-seeded Northgate, 15-6 on November 5 at Campolindo High.
Piedmont finished the season 12-12. The Broncos (17-9) advanced to the second round where they will face No. 9 Acalanes, who defeated San Marin, 14-13. That match will be November 7 at 2:30 p.m. at Miramonte.
“We came into D1, and rather than being star-struck, whoa, we’re playing against the No. 1 seed in D1, we were aggressive and went at it,” Rylan Patty said. “I feel we were mature in the pool. We weren’t crazy nervous, throwing the ball away, and we put up a good fight. No one expected us to do this well.”
Added Henry Stein, “When I saw that bracket, I was stoked. We’re built with sophomores and juniors. Progress. This is our first year in D1 and we’re going to come back and we’re going to win more games.”
Stein had three goals to lead the Highlanders. Patty had two and Henry Van Den Bos had the other. Stein and Patty are juniors and Van Den Bos is a sophomore, illustrating Stein’s point.
Sophomore Dylan Jerez had a busy game in goal.
“I felt confident,” he said. “I don’t think I played my best game. That was fun but I think I could have kept it a lot closer.”
Ramsey Lewis, Jo Rogers, Ethan Lee and Aidan Belanger each scored three goals to lead Northgate. Will Getty had two goals and Jimmy Armstrong had one. The Broncos had a distinct size advantage.
“It’s the same size in the water,” Jerez said.
Stein and Patty said they play on the same club team as several of the Northgate players.
“These are all Rylan and my teammates,” Stein said. “One of my best friends is on this team. We knew what we were strolling into.”
Coach Rik Krumins acknowledged the honor it was for his team to make the Division 1 bracket.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” he said. Aside from the open four (in the Open Division), we’re being recognized as a top 16 team in our North Coast Section. We’ll take that. Love that.
“This is great competition. I’m super-proud of these guys and what we did and what we accomplished during the season.
“We’re playing with house money. There’s no pressure on you whatsoever.”
Most of the team is underclassmen. The future is bright for Piedmont.
“I was just talking to Walker (Wilson) over there,” Patty said. “He dapped me up and said, ‘I’m not that sad about this season. We have something to look forward to next season. We’ve got such a young team. I’m going to be playing club, a bunch of other kids are playing club. And they’re going to come back and be a lot better.
“And we’re going to have Ben (Kappes, who missed much of the season with an injury) again.”
Added Stein, “As Rylan said, we’re going to have Ben. We’re also going to have Ben’s little brother. He’s really good.”