Ellison Brush, Vivian Golub lead Sacred Heart Prep girls water polo to first Northern California Division 1 regional championship

Carondelet still hasn’t figured out how to solve the Sacred Heart Prep puzzle, especially junior goalkeeper Ellison Brush.

Thanks to Vivian Golub and Brush, the Gators were finally able to successfully navigate the gauntlet that is the Northern California Division 1 girls water regional playoffs.

Golub scored five goals and Brush contributed 14 saves for Sacred Heart Prep, which secured its third victory this season against Carondelet with an 11-4 triumph in Saturday’s final to capture the first regional championship in program history at Dunlevie Aquatic Center.

Sacred Heart Prep (27-2), which won its 12th consecutive match, held Carondelet (23-6) to its lowest scoring output of the season.

The Cougars also endured a 12-8 loss Sept. 7 against Sacred Heart Prep at the Acalanes Tournament and suffered a 12-7 setback Oct. 26 to the host Gators at the NorCal Invitational.

Carondelet, which was also eliminated by Sacred Heart Prep following a 6-5 loss in the opening round of last year’s Division 1 regional, has dropped eight consecutive matchups against the Gators during the past four seasons.

Sacred Heart Prep, which endured a 10-2 setback against Acalanes in the 2019 Division 1 regional final, overcame a significant hurdle in Thursday’s semifinals against Miramonte.

The only two regular-season losses for the Gators came against Miramonte, with an 11-8 nonleague setback Sept. 17, as well as an 8-5 defeat Oct. 5 at the Arroyo Grande Fall Classic.

But Sacred Heart Prep denied Miramonte an opportunity to compete for a fourth consecutive Division 1 regional crown and fifth title overall with a 9-4 victory, allowing the Gators – who received six saves from Brush and two goals each from Lauren Rossi, Kiernan Hogan and Golub – to build momentum into Saturday’s championship match.

Golub added two first-half goals against Carondelet, with Casey Coleman, Natalia Szczerba and Hogan also scoring to give the Gators a 5-3 advantage entering the third quarter.

Golub scored three consecutive goals in the third, including a 5-meter penalty shot, to increase Sacred Heart Prep’s lead to 9-4 entering the final quarter.

Brush turned away a pair of Carondelet opportunities early in the fourth, with Golub and Hogan capping the scoring for the Gators, who surrendered a combined 26 goals in six postseason contests, including three matches in the CIF-Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs.

Hogan had three goals and Szczerba contributed a pair for Sacred Heart Prep, which held Carondelet leading scorer Josie Haast without a goal.

Kayden Page, Reagan Fullerton, Clara O’Connor and Ainsley Swann scored for Carondelet, which won a Division 2 regional title in 2022 and was attempting to become the first Northern California girls water polo program to capture championships in multiple divisions.

San Ramon Valley 12, Stevenson 10

The Wolves (23-8) rallied from a 7-5 halftime deficit to capture their first Division 2 regional championship in program history.

Emmerson Ferriera and Miranda Salinger each had three goals for Stevenson (21-10), which won the Division 3 regional crown last season and was looking to add another title in a higher division.

Stevenson also advanced to the Division 3 regional championship in 2022, suffering an 11-10 loss to Woodcreek.

Arielle Dale scored twice, with Charlotte Morrow and Jacqui Powers also contributing goals for the Pirates, who received four saves from goalkeeper Anna Mitchell.

San Ramon Valley entered the eight-team regional as the No. 5 seed and knocked off No. 4 Clovis East, along with top-seeded Davis Senior, before prevailing against No. 2 Stevenson.

Aptos girls water polo | Photo courtesy of Aptos

Aptos 9, Morro Bay 7

Adelaide Friedley contributed three goals and Sofia Contreras scored twice for Aptos (20-10), which built a 5-2 halftime lead on its way to securing the first Division 3 regional crown in program history.

The Mariners were in control throughout, adding to a three-goal advantage entering the fourth by increasing the lead to 9-4, before Morro Bay (20-11) produced a late rally after Aptos had already cleared its bench.

Ava Beckett had six goals for the Pirates, who achieved an 11-8 victory in Thursday’s regional semifinals at top-seeded El Capitan to advance to their first regional championship match.

Kenadi Chitwood, Riley Knudsen and Madi Knudsen all scored in the first half for the Mariners, who received a 5-meter penalty shot in the fourth quarter from Adriana Santillano.

Mary Suarez-Abraham recorded six saves and four steals for Aptos.

Ginger Russell had 13 saves and Tessa Standrige also scored for first-time regional finalist Morro Bay.