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Redwood and Harker sprint to the ball to determine possession going into the third quarter.

On Nov. 19, the boys’ varsity water polo team played Harker High School in the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Northern California DII quarterfinals. Making it as far as the team did is already an impressive feat, especially making it into the championship as the first seed. Although the score was close throughout the game, the team was able to secure the win in the last minute, ending the game at 14-13. This game was closer than expected, as Redwood’s team is ranked as the first seed in the championship, while Harker’s team is ranked eighth.
Rudy Kardos has been the head coach for the team since 2011. Although the game ultimately ended in a win for the Giants, he had hoped to see an easier win.
“[The game was] ugly. It was not one of our best games by a long shot, so I am just happy we got through it,” Kardos said.
Although many players were not satisfied with their performance, the team was still able to secure the win in the last three seconds of the game.
Kardos was impressed by the performance of his starting players, including junior Charlie Poser, senior Ossie Joplin and sophomore Maddox McClellan. Joplin, one of the team captains, played a crucial role in Redwood’s win, scoring five goals throughout the game. McClellan scored two goals and Poser scored one.
Freshman Storm Jackson scored the game winning goal in the final seconds of the game, and spoke to the game as a whole.
“We didn’t play our best, but we came through at the end, which is all that matters,” Jackson said.
Jackson noted that it was particularly harder to play with the absence of one of their team captains, senior Sawyer Goldberg, due to a concussion. In Goldberg’s absence, Jackson saw senior Lucas Knauer and junior Oliver Rogers step up. Knauer scored two goals for the Giants in the fourth quarter, while Rogers was a key player on defense to limit Harker’s shots on goal.
“[I was proud to see] our team’s resilience. A lot of things didn’t go our way so it was awesome for us to keep fighting. Even though our defense [didn’t perform] the best, we kept fighting to pull off the victory,” Jackson said. “We had a few offensive plays that worked, and that’s what had us set up the goal at the end [of the game].”
The final game winning goal reflected the drills the team had been practicing earlier this season, showing how their hard work is paying off in the long run.
For the upcoming championship games, Kardos plans to take it one game at a time. This is especially important since the team only has one day in between each of their next three games.
“There’s very little you can do [to prepare]. It’s really just refreshing a few things, recovery and being ready for the next game,” Kardos said.
The Giants remain highly ranked as seventh in the nation, fifth in California and first in the North Coast Section (NCS). The team’s next game will take place this Thursday, Nov. 21, and if they continue their winning streak, they will be playing in the championship finals this Saturday, Nov. 23.