Concord De La Salle boys water polo gets top regional seed following thrilling win in North Coast Section Open Division final

Sacred Heart Prep has captured three straight Northern California Division 1 regional boys water polo championships, but the Gators will be in the role of hunter in pursuit of a record fourth consecutive crown when the eight-team playoffs begin Tuesday.

Concord De La Salle (20-6), which won its third CIF-North Coast Section Open Division title in four years Saturday with a 14-13 sudden-death overtime victory against Miramonte on a golden goal by Hayden Tully, earned the top seed and will play host to No. 8 Buchanan (20-9).

The Bears secured back-to-back CIF-Central Section Division 1 championships Saturday with a 12-10 win against Clovis West and will compete against Concord De La Salle for the first time since 2019.

Buchanan won the Division 2 regional crown in 2019 with a 10-9 victory against Carmichael Jesuit.

Concord De La Salle, seeking its first appearance in a regional final in program history, prevailed 11-8 in an Oct. 24 nonleague match against Sacred Heart Prep (16-10), resulting in the Gators receiving the No. 2 seed.

Sacred Heart Prep, which edged Mountain View St. Francis by a 10-9 margin Saturday, achieved a share of the CIF-Central Coast Section Open Division championship for the seventh straight season.

The Gators shared the 2018 section title with Bellarmine Prep after poor air quality resulted in the championship match being canceled and the 2020 schedule was erased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sacred Heart Prep will square off for the first time this fall against No. 7 Rio Americano (27-4), which captured the CIF-Sac Joaquin Section Division 1 crown for the second year in a row with a 19-11 triumph Saturday against Davis Senior.

Miramonte (16-10), the No. 3 seed, will face No. 6 Archie Williams (22-5) in a CIF-North Coast Section clash.

The Matadors are matching up against Archie Williams for the third time in less than a month, producing a 17-11 victory Oct. 24, before holding off the Falcons by an 11-10 margin Nov. 9 in the North Coast Section Open Division semifinals.

Miramonte endured a 13-10 setback to Sacred Heart Prep in last year’s Division 1 regional final. The Matadors also suffered a 17-4 loss to Sacred Heart Prep in the 2021 regional championship.

Archie Williams won the inaugural Division 1 regional crown in 2017 with an 8-6 triumph against Sacred Heart Prep.

Campolindo (17-9) captured the No. 4 seed and will square off with No. 5 Mountain View St. Francis (22-8) in the first meeting among the programs this season.

Campolindo won the Division 2 regional crown last year with a 14-12 victory against Buchanan.

The Cougars secured the Division 1 regional title in 2019 by defeating San Ramon Valley.

The regional semifinals are scheduled for Thursday, with the championship match held Nov. 23.