Menlo News September 10, 2022

Boys’ water polo finalist in Roche Invitational

Knights finish 4-1, falling in championship to LaJolla

The Menlo boys’ water polo ran through the 42nd Scott Roche Invitational and finished 4-1, falling only to La Jolla in a rematch of last year’s championship Saturday,

La Jolla jumped to a 5-1 lead and held on from there en route to a 15-10 win. La Jolla joins San Ramon Valley and Menlo School as the only schools with consecutive wins, with Menlo doing it twice and, in the years 2016-2019, it won four consecutive championships leading up to these two for La Jolla.

On Saturday, Teddy Meeks led Menlo (6-2) in assists with three and Nic Ekstrand and Jackson Coleman each had 2 steals.

Earlier, Menlo defeated Vista in the semifinal 13-11. Three players had two assists: Cormac Mulloy and Meeks, Tommy Kiesling. and Nic Ekstrand led Menlo in steals with three.

“This is just a great result for us,” Menlo Coach Jack Bowen said. “Those couple good wins show us how strong we are early in the season and that loss to La Jolla is a good reminder for us to keep progressing, working hard, and improving.”

Championship
La Jolla 5 3 6 1 - 15
Menlo 2 2 2 4 - 10

Scoring – M: Jackson Kay, Ethan Babel, Nic Ekstrand 2, Tommy Kiesling 5, Jackson Coleman. Saves: Cormac Mulloy 9, Finn Byrne 5

Semifinal
Menlo School 2, 3, 7, 1 - 13
Vista 3, 1, 1, 6 -11

Scoring - M: Jackson Kay 3, Ethan Babel, Michael Fang, Tommy Kiesling 5, Jackson Coleman, Teddy Meeks 2. Saves: Cormac Mulloy 11

Third place
Redwood 12, Vista 9

Fifth place
Davis 17,Valley Christian 9

SEVENTH Valhalla 14 (OT)

Clovis North 13

NINTH

Rio Americano 13

Granite Bay 9

ELEVENTH