In this rivalry, any win counts In this rivalry, any win counts (July 29, 2005)

By Scott Campbell

With the high-school season fast approaching, two of the top programs in the Central Coast Section took an opportunity to work on team-building and game strategy. And, of course, to get the early bid on local bragging rights.

In this friendly between the schools' summer club teams at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center on July 22, St. Francis scored early and often, dominating an undermanned Los Altos squad to emerge with a 12-3 victory. (Voice staff writer Jon Wiener is the Los Altos coach.)

"It's just grown to be such a rivalry over the years," said St. Francis goalie Scottie Hvidt. "It meant a lot for us to show that we're going to be the team to beat this year."

The Lancers got their offensive barrage started three minutes into the game when driver Tom Avery attempted a deep shot that slipped past two Los Altos defenders and goalie Paul Winterbotham to end up in the right corner of the Eagles goal.

Just a minute later, hole set Josh Minnis pushed St. Francis' lead to 2-0 after stealing the ball from Los Altos driver Gabe Shapiro and swimming in to convert his one-on-one opportunity against Winterbotham.

The Eagles, playing without star hole set Tyler Smith, goalie Mike Peterson and two other starters, briefly showed signs of life by rallying to close within 2-1 with 2:33 remaining in the first period.

Los Altos driver Tim Miller caught the Lancers off guard with a steal deep in St. Francis territory and delivered the ball to Shapiro for an easy score.

"They were about to pass it back to the goalie and I kind of knew they were going to make a lazy pass ... so I just grabbed it and threw it to Gabe, who was already down the pool," said Miller, who is entering his senior season.

Then the floodgates opened and the Lancers began peppering the Eagles cage with shots. In scoring once more before quarter's end and five more times in the second quarter to take an 8-1 halftime lead, St. Francis consistently beat the Eagles on fast breaks and found Winterbotham defenseless almost at will.

"Basically, we just came out strong and hard, and countered them and got a couple of quick goals, caught them on their heels," said St. Francis incoming freshman Tom Cole, who notched a goal and two assists. "We just got our breakaways and put 'em away and they couldn't keep up with us."

Asked what he was most pleased with in his team's performance, Lancers coach Terry O'Donnell said, "Our ability to execute on the fast break.

"We were getting open. We were able to find guys open on the weakside. There was pretty good contributing from everybody."

Though soon-to-be sophomore Avery was the star of the night with five goals, five different Lancers found the back of the net, a sign of the fruits of the team's rigorous training regimen.

"Our summers are crash courses in experience," said O'Donnell. "Play as much as possible, put ourselves in as many new situations as possible and get to know how to handle them. Our team chemistry is pretty darn good for one summer's worth of work."

Meanwhile, the shorthanded Eagles were left with few scoring opportunities against the faster Lancers and their shutdown defense, anchored by Hvidt.

Los Altos posted a pair of third-quarter goals, by hole set Vahig Manugian, again on an assist from Miller, and hole defender Colin Hensey, but St. Francis answered with four second-half scores of its own to complete the shellacking.

"OK, we weren't playing with our full team, but big deal," said Shapiro, a Los Altos senior-to-be. "We shouldn't have lost 12-3. We should've been able to stop 'em at least a little more on defense."

Even so, Los Altos feels that, with all hands on deck, it will take its chances against any team in the CCS. Knowing that adding Smith -- a contender for CCS Player of the Year who was in Los Angeles training with the Youth National Team -- and Peterson to the fold instantly changes the complexion of the team, the Eagles were far from ready to panic, despite the hefty defeat.

"Really any other team we're going to play this year is just going to want to beat Los Altos," said Manugian. "We've just got to realize it's summer and just shake it off and get ready for the real season, when it matters."

With a pre-season game yet to be scheduled, St. Francis and Los Altos could face each other in any of three tournaments in 2005. The Lancers and Eagles may cross paths as soon as in the Schmitt Tournament, held at Bellarmine on Sept. 16-17.

E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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