Redwood's Tyler Simmons (4) tries to maneuver past St. Ignatius' Sam Arabian during SI's 18-6 victory. (Special to the IJ/Alan Dep)
With Tiburon native Billy Mattimore scoring three of his five goals in a 3 minute, 49 second span of the third quarter, St. Ignatius turned a 6-5 lead into a rout that eventually saw the Wildcats win 18-6. St. Ignatius (7-1) has now won two in a row since a loss last week to Coronado ended a 43-match winning streak against California schools; Redwood (5-6) failed in its bid to move over .500 for the first time since it won its season opener.
“It’s tough running with the best,” Redwood coach Griffin Costello said. “But it was a great game. Every game we try to learn something new. It’s a big loss, but it’s a lesson to learn. Even the games we win, we learn what we do well, how we came out strong. How we did something different. So it’s always a learning experience.”
St. Ignatius never trailed, but the Wildcats never looked truly comfortable in the first half. After Redwood fell behind 4-1 in the first period, the Giants closed to within 4-3 when freshman Patrick Konttinen scored twice in 26 seconds early in the second period. After SI extended its lead to 6-3, Adam Rosenthal tallied to bring Redwood closer before intermission .
When Joe Klemme then struck 1:14 into the second half, the Giants were down just 6-5. Unfortunately for them, that goal would be among their final highlights.
Despite goalie Hunter Hall’s 21 saves, Redwood could not keep SI down and the deficit was 12-6 by the end of the third quarter. It never got any better for Redwood in the final period.
“The boys were waiting to explode and it took them awhile to get going,” St. Ignatius coach Chris Packard said. “I think we were a little slow to start but they hung in there and they look within so we appreciate how they’re staying together and using each other.”
Fatigue definitely took its toll on the Giants.
“At the end of halftime, I was still tired and we had to go back out there,” Redwood defender Jeremy Schwartz said. “But if we could have possessed the ball, it might have been a little bit different story.”
St. Ignatius clearly won the time of possession battle, launching attack after attack at the Redwood net. Eventually, those forays into Redwood territory paid off.
“We were a little bit frustrated just because we knew we were not playing to our potential,” Mattimore said. “We just wanted to come out and play like we know how, to our full potential. We still know that we are a good team and how well we can play.”
Despite the lopsided outcome, Packard said he was impressed with Redwood.
“Redwood, they’re a vastly improved team,” Packard said. “They have a bunch of nice players and a good philosophy. I was impressed with their defense certainly and how they moved the ball on offense.”
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