Jesuit, Rio Americano Win Section Titles in Boys Water Polo

and , the two high schools on American River Drive, can now call themselves section champions in boys water polo.

The defeated Davis 6-4 on Saturday in the Division I championship. The win gives Jesuit the school's 100th section title in all sports.

Senior Phil Cozens, the son of the Jesuit coach of the same name, led the Marauders with two goals and the team got one goal each from sophomore Keegan Shuping and seniors James Boschkin, Nick Zanobini and Jack Reilly.

"I can safely say the team pointed for the entire year at winning this championship for Jesuit," Coach Cozens said. "The boys knew from May that they would have the first opportunity to win the 100th championship."

"They recognized that with a strong and balanced team approach, they would be favored to win," the elder Cozens said. "They cooperated and worked hard together. The championship is a culmination of not one, but really three years of hard work."

In Division II, defeated , another Carmichael-area rival, by a score of 9-2.

The Raiders got two goals each from senior co-captains Jake Hastie and Michael Woodbury and junior Johnny Price and one goal each from seniors Johnny , Neumann and Hunter Simons and junior Jack Dubois. The Eagles' goals were scored by senior Chris Smith and sophomore Josh Jordan.

"What an incredible finish to an incredible season," Rio coach Tyson Frenn said. "You could argue this was the best season in Rio history. We finished 27-6 and beat the D1 section champs (Jesuit) twice."

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BOYS WATER POLO

Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs

At Woodcreek

Division I championship

JESUIT 6, DAVIS 4

D–Fullerton, Stapleton, Moynihan, McCarthy. J–Cozens 2, Shupin, Boschkin, Zanobini, Reilly.

Division II championship

RIO AMERICANO 9, EL CAMINO 2

EC–C. Smith, J. Jordan. RA–J. Hastie 2, Woodbury 2, Price 2, Simons, Dubois, Neumann.

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Jesuit coach Phil Cozens: "I can safely say the team pointed for the entire year at winning this championship for Jesuit.  The boys knew from May that they would have the first opportunity to win the 100th championship.  They recognized that with a strong and balanced team approach, they would be favored to win.  They cooperated and worked hard together.  The championship is a culmination of not one, but really three years of hard work.  

In the last game, we played a unique defense meant to stifle Davis High School's two scoring options Connor Stapleton and David Lester.  I assigned Nick Zanobini to Connor Stapleton and James Boschken to David Lester.  Philip Cozens Jr. was assigned to double team the recipient if either received the ball.  Both Nick and James succeeded in their assignments.  Connor did not score until two minutes left in the game and after Nick had been substituted and David Lester did not score at all.  We played terrific defense which limited Davis to two goals through the first three quarters.  They scored two in the last two minutes on break away steals during some lax play in a minute at the end of the fourth quarter,  In the mean time we scored five goals on a variety of shots and missed several other strong scoring opportunities.  Ultimately, sophomore Keegan Shuping scored a put-away goal with about one minute to go and we coasted to a 6-4 victory.  In short, defense was supreme in the game and ours was great.  I would be remiss if I did not mention that Luke Graffis, our goalie, was the key stopper, blocking several close range shots and consistently shutting down the goal to Davis.  

Seniors Philip Cozens, Luke Felton and Matt Hamilton were first team all section selections; Nick Zanobini and Luke Graffis were second team all section selections; James Boschken was honorable mention all section selection."

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Rio Americano coach Tyson Frenn: "What an incredible finish to an incredible season!  It was a defensive battle in the first half.  We struggled at times with running our offense but credit El Camino for a fantastic first half.  Our center, #17 (Johnny) Neumann, was in foul trouble early which affected our offense.  El Camino scored with 11 seconds left in the first half.  We put Neumann back in a ran a play we worked all during the week.  It worked perfectly and #18 John Price hit a buzzer-beater to make it 2-1.  I think that was a huge momentum swing for us as we came out in the third quarter and scored 4 goals to take a commanding lead.  And we never looked back.

Our seniors were amazing.  All nine of the them saw time in the championship game.  We all wanted this for our seniors.  They were incredible leaders throughout the season and I’m most proud that we were able to send them off with a section championship.

What it means to win this championship?  I’m just lucky.  This was my first year as a high school coach…and I’m just lucky to be a part of this team and this program.  The players and coaching staff were amazing all season.  You could argue this was the best season in Rio history.  We finished 27-6 and beat the D1 section champs (Jesuit) twice.   We never lost to a team in our section all year.  Like I said, what an incredible finish to an incredible season.  AND WE’LL BE BACK NEXT YEAR."