Water polo piles up four victories

Author: Geoff Homer

Completely dominating the competition, the men's water polo team picked up where they left off last season: crushing their opponents. This past weekend, the squad traveled to Bates College in Lewiston, Maine where they took on opponents Boston College (B.C.), Dartmouth, Bates and Colby. Dominating the competition, the team went 4-0 on the weekend and is the only undefeated team in the league.

Playing exceptionally well, they Panthers defeated B.C. by a score of 16-10, Dartmouth 18-8, Bates 18-3 and Colby 12-7. According to Dekker Deacon '07, the win over Dartmouth was especially gratifying. "We have a lot of history with Dartmouth, they have been our biggest rivals for years, and it was really satisfying to soundly defeat the team that used to dominate our league," he said.

Kevin O'Rourke and Peter Swanson, both '09, showed exceptional potential as they each logged several goals. Matt Sullivan '08 also continued his stellar play as he wowed the crowds with his powerful arm. Captains Alex Demas '06 and Rob Hillas '06, along with Austin Krissoff '06 showed exceptional leadership and sportsmanship throughout the tournament. Amazing the competition with his cat-like reflexes, goalie Jamie Lamere '06 also had a strong weekend. Unfortunately, starting hole-set (or center) Toshi Kido '08 broke his hand in a collision with a B.C. player in the first match and missed the remainder of the weekend. However, Kido is expected to make a full recovery for Nationals. Replacing Kido, Andrew Herzik '07.5 played flawlessly in relief. His presence will be crucial in upcoming matches if he can maintain his conditioning in a physically demanding position.

On a humorous side note, this weekend was the first that Coach Brian Goodwin was able to avoid rejection from the pool deck.

The weekend sweep was particularly gratifying as it continued the Panthers domination of the North Atlantic Division and solidified their position as the team to beat. As Deacon mentioned, the team is optimistic that with some hard work they should be in great shape.

"Despite the changing nature of the league this year, with many of our competitors showing great improvement, we intend to defend last year's title as well as improve our standings at Club Nationals in November," he said. Herzik echoed Deacons comments: "If we continue playing the polo we are playing, we'll be headed to Nationals for sure."

The next competition is in the Panthers home pool the weekend of Oct. 15-16, as they take on UVM, Dartmouth, Bowdoin and B.C. Look for the Panthers to continue their dominance in the league and put on a show for what they hope will be a strong home crowd.