Instant classic: Xavier Prep edges Palm Desert in overtime thriller to capture DEL crown
You can't ask for much more out of a championship game than the show the Xavier Prep and Palm Desert boys' water polo teams put on Wednesday for the Desert Empire League title.
High drama, late goals, a raucous crowd, this one had it all. The Saints' Aidan Forehand scored with 13 seconds left to give Xavier Prep an 11-10 lead. Palm Desert's Will Walz then scored with 6 seconds left to send the game into overtime. In the six-minute overtime session, only one goal was scored, and that belonged to Corbin Chuck of Xavier Prep.
The Saints pulled out the dramatic 12-11 overtime win to claim the DEL championship and stop a run by the Aztecs, who had won every league title since 2019. This is the third league title for the Saints, including 2014 and 2018.
The atmosphere was electric at the Indio High School pool as both teams had loud, energetic crowds roaring and groaning with every goal and near-miss.
"I'm so happy right now. We trained four years for this and it feels so good that all those morning practices and hard days in the weight room paid off," said Chuck, a senior for the Saints. "It means everything to me. This is my last league game and to do it with my best friends, and the fact that it went to overtime makes it even better."
It's fair to say the Saints and the Aztecs are about as even as any two teams could ever be. Their regular-season game went the way of Palm Desert, and that game also went to overtime with the Aztecs winning 8-7. That's two entire 28-minute games and two 6-minute overtimes with the cumulative score being a 19-19 tie.
As always when Xavier Prep plays Palm Desert, there's also the storyline of the coaches being husband and wife. This day, it was the Saints' Pavol Valovic getting the upper hand on Aztecs coach Michelle Valovic.
"I'm really pleased with the way our boys played and fought. Palm Desert is a fantastic team, Michelle prepares them well, but I'm really proud of the way we kept fighting and never put our head down even when we lost the lead late," Pavol Valovic said. "Great defensive effort, great team effort from the goalie to everyone, I couldn't be happier."
It was tight the whole way as neither team ever had more than a three-goal lead. Palm Desert led 2-0 in the first period, but the Saints tied at 2-2 after one period, and strangely, despite how tight the contest was, Palm Desert never led at any point the rest of the game.
Xavier Prep, behind four first-half goals from Chuck, took a 5-3 lead into the half. The third period featured a barrage of goals as both teams scored three times in the first three minutes, but the Saints maintained their two-goal edge at 8-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
A goal by the Aztecs' Walz cut it to 8-7, but a pair of quick response goals by the Saints' Carson Chuck and Nate Bilodeau gave Xavier Prep their biggest lead at 10-7. But Palm Desert didn't quit.
Jack Baker squeezed a goal past Xavier Prep goalie Alex Simpson and followed it up seconds later with a penalty shot to cut the Aztecs' deficit to 10-9. Then Finn Hickman scored on a long, contested shot with exactly two minutes left to tie the game 10-10 and set up the final-minute heroics.
Simpson made one last huge save in the final 30 seconds to preserve the win and touch off a Saints celebration.
It was a classic game that ended with the expected emotions as the Saints were hugging, cheering, taking photos and eating celebratory cupcakes. The Aztecs players, meanwhile had sad faces during the handshake line, emotionally spent from such a battle.
But it was the kind of game deserving of a championship tilt and neither team should leave with heads hung low.
"I told the guys it's really hard to beat a team twice when you are very equal and it tends to even out. Of course, that didn't make them feel better, but they have no reason to hang their heads," Michelle Valovic said. "I walk away from the game feeling really good about this team. We didn't get down when we got behind in the fourth quarter, played the overtime without one of our key guys. Just proud of the way (these) guys stepped up when called upon."
The goals for the Saints were scored by Corbin Chuck with five, Bilodeau with three, Carson Chuck with two, Dylan Diltz with one and Forehand with one.
The Aztecs had goals from Walz with three, Jack Baker with three, Parker Finnell with two, Nick Poma with one, Hickman with one and Luke Van Buskirk with one.
Both the Saints and the Aztecs earned a spot in the CIF-SS playoffs and will learn their postseason path when the pairings are revealed at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Third-place game
La Quinta 15, Palm Springs 10: The Blackhawks will join the two title-game combatants in the postseason, claiming the league's third playoff spot with a win over the Indians.
La Quinta's Luke Ivy had a solid game with a team-high five goals, while Aiden Herrera added four goals.
Palm Springs was led by Harley Eden and Jackson Warila with three goals each, while Tino Bercerra scored twice.
The Indians will find out their playoff fate when the pairings are released Saturday, but it wouldn't be surprising if they, too, will see their season extended.
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Water polo: Xavier Prep wins overtime thriller, ends Palm Desert's reign
