Vikings Dexter Black (4) and Addie Calhoun
(in goal) celebrate at the closing buzzer
after La Jolla's 15-13 Open semifinal win.
Aden Shin of Bishop's removes his cap
next to Black. (Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
As hundreds of fans streamed out of the La Jolla-Bishop's semifinal playoff game Tuesday night, Nov. 10, a driverless Waymo car turned left onto Fay Ave. a half block away.
It fit the scene of "Back to the Future", an AI-inspired move into a world beyond of strange, delightful occurrences in the Coggan pool.
For fans of the Vikings, it was sheer joy. For adherents to the Knights, dungeons and dragons of despair, in yet another rivalry game between the two La Jolla schools as Henry Glenister and Barney Pearce scored late goals to break a 13-all tie and carry the red-and-black to the finals of the Open Division in four days.
The mistake for the Ian Davidson-Doug Peabody Bishopsonians was letting 6'8" Vike star Dexter Black get loose and create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates.
On the Glenister goal, the 2025 CIF Player of the Year backstroked his way into position on the four-five (right) side, then opened the way for the fellow lefty to fire in the go-ahead goal from dead-on center.
The LJHS student body, standing in anticipation behind the south goal, let out a roar--but a short time later minded their behavior, not jumping into the water like boys from the football team did last year at the Vikings' first Open Division title celebration. The crowd was repeatedly warned in the closing minute that there would be "possible sanctions" for the school if they did take a victory dip with the players. It's a new CIF rule.
The game itself was a playoff gem. The two schools traded goals, with neither team leading by more than a single score until 4:11 left in the fourth quarter, La Jolla up 13-11 on Glenister's fifth goal (the winner was his sixth).
There were stretches in which the Knights or the Vikings went through a full possession, working the ball, and being denied a shot or having a shot attempt blocked.
For example, after Bishop's scored the opening goal with a minute and a half elapsed, on the next possession the hosts couldn't get a shot off (5:54 on the clock). La Jolla had a shot attempt blocked on their second time down the pool (4:55), before Black scored his first goal at 4:03 for a 1-1 tie.
On the ensuing possession, the Knights couldn't get off a shot (3:44), ditto the Vikes (ending at 3:15), before finally Liam Zarcu notched a goal from the point.
The spirited and effective defense by both teams led to a 3-3 draw at the end of one period, 8-7 in favor of Bishop's at halftime, and 11-11 at the end of three quarters.
One poolside expert not aligned with either of the two schools predicted as the game moved toward crunch time that the result would come down to exclusions (three fouls and you're out, as Quinn Daniels of La Jolla experienced with 6:30 remaining), team depth in players "who have played in games like this" (favoring the Vikings, in his view), and goalkeeper play (another LJHS advantage). This wag predicted a one-goal difference in the final tally. It turned out to be two.
The advantage of having the 6'8" Dexter flying around with the ball became further apparent in the final 48 seconds, La Jolla leading 15-13, calling a timeout after Pearce's fastbreak goal. Coach Tom Atwell plotted to have Black swim with the ball and avoid Knights as long as he could to freeze the ball, then he passed to Glenister before the 30-second possession clock ran out. That left 21 seconds on the clock.
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