SARATOGA -- West Valley men's water polo won its 36^th-straight conference match, riding a dominant fourth quarter to take down College of San Mateo, 23-9.

"We're very pleased, it's another conference win," said West Valley head coach Willo Rodriguez. "Everybody is getting an opportunity to play before we get into the playoffs. So again, we're still undefeated in conference play. Looking forward to finishing conference play next week."

The Vikings (13-3, 4-0) have about as strong of a resume as one could ask for. Their three losses are to the Shanghai Club Team, what was a top five Division 1 team in San Jose State and rival Golden West College, winners of the last six state championships. Through three quarters, it seemed CSM (8-5, 2-2) provided the same level of competition. The Vikings entered the final 8:00 leading by only four.

For an offense on pace to average its most goals-per-game in recorded history, scoring only 13 over the first three periods was slightly below par. But the defense was strong early on, holding one of the conferences' scoring leaders in Sean Coffin to only two goals at the half.

Lucas Rocha Gentil opened the game between the posts, making a few nice saves before handing off the final three quarters to Nicholas Boniface. Lucas Castro was the Vikings' main facilitator early on, assisting on two of the Vikings first four goal

With a 4-0 lead, CSM's Julian Garcia Mendez planted himself in front of the cage and got strong positioning on his defender to cut into the Viking lead late in the first quarter.

But the Vikings extended their lead, at one point leading 12-6 in the third quarter, due to a one-man wrecking ball performance from Pa'Kalani Saxton Vaka. After struggling to find consistent scoring, the freshman has been dominant of late. He scored five against Merced, three against Las Positas and continued with a four-goal performance against the Bulldogs.

"He's developing as a utility player, meaning he can play every position," said Rodriguez. "Attacker, defender, center. What I saw from him specifically, he played every position for me today. I'm very pleased with his performance."

A Csanad Varga teardrop shot halted a late second quarter run from the Bulldogs. But two late goals from Coffin brought the lead to just four entering the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, the theme was adjusting defensively. West Valley brought in fresh bodies for the fourth, including Ali Cinar, who scored all his six goals in the final period. But more than that, the lead ballooned because of stellar defensive play.

"We're giving a lot of people opportunities to play and develop their skills," said Rodriguez. "We were able to talk about defense and making some adjustments. When we made those adjustments, I think we went on a 5-0 scoring spree. So, the changes were good."

A 5-0 spree was even selling it short -- the Vikings scored the final ten unanswered in a scoreless fourth quarter. Boniface was huge, saving three shots in the final period without allowing one. The changes were clear, and a huge momentum burst heading into the final stretch of conference play.

"I felt like they executed it very well," said Rodriguez. "We have to finish strong. If we plan to be in the championship game, the fourth quarter is the most important one. So again, we're playing high in the lanes, we're looking to try and get steals, and then finish strong on our fastbreak. It worked out, so we're happy with how they executed in the fourth quarter."

 The Vikings have a quick conference break coming up, taking on four teams in the 2025 West Valley Bruce Watson Invitational. They open play with a difficult matchup with Mt. San Antonio College at 11:45 AM on Friday morning.