2016 JCWP 16U Junior Olympics Recap
2016 Junior Olympic 16U JO Team. Photos courtesy of Charles Jellinek (@charlesjellinek).
The Cats had a great 2016 expedition to USAWP Junior Olympics in California, going 5-3 overall and taking 13th in the Bronze Division of the 16U JO tournament. Not only did the team play well, but they also had a lot of fun when not in the pool. Here is a summary of our trip and the games that we played:
Thursday, July 21 We were supposed to end up in California and scrimmage/practice with SHAQ (who made it to the 16U championship game) and 680 (who made it to the 18U championship game). Instead, our flights were cancelled, and we ended up in airports throughout the United States. The bulk of the team made it to Denver, where we were stranded for eight hours. In that time, some players stayed at the airport. Others trekked into the city of Denver and explored the city for a few hours. There, we visited the state capital, the original Chipotle, and Denver University.
We made the best out of the situation, and we had an enjoyable time hanging out and waiting for our flights. Eventually, we all made it to San Jose, either by car from Oakland or flying into San Jose.
Friday, July 22 After the long day on Thursday, the team took Friday to explore San Francisco and relax before starting play at JO. While in San Francisco, the team took in Lombard Street and explored the Twin Peaks.
We also visited the Golden Gate Bridge, and we drove past Fisherman’s Wharf. The team then headed back to the Fairfield Inn to relax and prepare for the upcoming slate of games.
Saturday, June 23 Games begin!
Game 1: Elite 14, Jungle Cats 7 The Cats opened play by falling to a physical Elite team 14-7. The Cats were unable to execute a successful team offense against Elite’s aggressive style of play. Joe Jellinek scored five of the team’s seven goals. Solomon Cohen and Alec Zhou played well in goal and kept the score from being more lopsided than it was.
Game 2: Kingfish 13, Jungle Cats 4 Physical play continued to disrupt JCWP’s offense. While the team scored four goals, the team missed multiple chances that could have made the game closer. In the end, two goals from Jellinek and tallies from Larson and Mattingly were not enough to beat the strong Kingfish squad.
Sunday, July 24 Game 3: Jungle Cat 12, Rain City 3 The Cats had a strong start to day two, beating Rain City by the score of 12-3. The Cats won every quarter, never giving up more than one goal per quarter. Struckhoff, Larson, Jellinek, and Mattingly all had multiple scores, and the team surpassed their goal total from day one with success on the offensive end. The team was also perfect on its odd man opportunities, converting both 6-on-5s and its lone penalty shot. Solomon Cohen also had a strong half, stopping multiple strong chances for Rain City.
Game 4: Jungle Cats 18, Viper Pigeon 7 The Cats met their friends from Houston in game two of day two and took home the victory, winning 18-7. The Cats got goals from 9 of their 12 field players and five from Thomas Larson in route to the convincing victory.
With some time to kill in the seven hour break between games, the team visited the Henry Cowell Redwood Forest.
The team relaxed in the presence of beautiful redwood trees. It was a relaxing setting, as the redwood forest provided shade and cooler temps for relaxing.
These redwood trees were so big that we were able to fit the whole team inside of one of them. Check it out: https://twitter.com/charlesjellinek/status/757334534652256256
After the redwood forest, we took a trip up the Pacific Coast Highway and visited the beach for a bit before heading for dinner and preparing for our next game.
Game 5: Golden State 12, Jungle Cats 4 The team’s most lackadaisical performance of the tournament came against a Golden State team. Probably due to the long day, the team lacked energy in the pool, mustering only four goals. But, the team did witness an Oscar-worthy performance from the referee, who wanted to make his presence known by issuing a yellow card to both Struckhoff and Coach Ray. Nevertheless, the team won the fourth quarter 3-1, with nice goals from Fields, Everts, and Meyer. After this game, the team went home for a well-deserved rest.
Monday, July 25 Game 6: Jungle Cats 12, Longhorn 5 In the sloppiest game of the tournament, the Cats beat the Longhorns 12-5. Lack of focus contributed to a 4-4 score at halftime. But, the Cats won the second half 8-1, with a strong performance by Solomon Cohen, battling both the Longhorns and the pool filter system. Jellinek added six goals, including a penalty shot drawn by Mattingly on a nice entry pass from Nozka.
Game 7: Jungle Cats 8, Valley 7 The Cats had their best game of the tournament by beating Valley 8-7. The Cats came out strong, with important first quarter goals from Wachter, Jellinek, and Piles. Tallies from Burke and Larson gave the Cats a 5-3 lead at half. A bad third quarter, with two ejections and one penalty shot, led to a tied 5-5 game heading into the fourth quarter. After a strong defensive stand, the Cats got the ball with 20 seconds left in the game. After using a TO, the Cats set up a play to win the game. An errant pass seemed likely to send the game to OT, but a great steal by Jellinek set up a goal by Larson with two seconds left. The Cats had their signature win and best game of the tournament. The team recorded eight goals from six different players, and stalwart defense and goaltending allowed the Cats to defeat their first California opponent. Alec Zhou had an incredible save worth noting when he kept the ball out of the cage after stuffing a player and then getting pulled over as the opponent tried to put it in.
Game 8: Jungle Cat 12, Santa Barbara 805 6 The Cats finished JOs with another strong game. The Cats went up 6-2 by half, and then they sped to a 12-6 victory. Game highlights included the Santa Barbara coach breaking his clipboard in disgust as the Cats dominated his team.
Overall Field Player Stats: Name-Goals/Ejections Jellinek-26/7 Struckhoff-6/2 Fields-4/2 Burke-5/4 Larson-14/4 Wachter-1/3 Baldes-1/4 Mattingly-10/2 Everts-2/1 Piles-4/2 Nozka-2/0 Meyer-2/0
Overall, it was a great week for the Cats!! Thanks to all of the parents and families who came out to California with us, and thanks to all of those who supported the team back in STL. I think everyone had a lot of fun and learned a lot!! We represented MOWP and JCWP well. Just from watching the team, it was evident that we were better both individually and as a team by the end of the tournament. I enjoyed hanging out with these boys and enjoyed seeing them grow this week. It was a great trip!!
See you all around the pool. Go Cats!!
Coach Ray












