Women's water polo wins championship

In the championships of the North Atlantic Division held at its very own natatorium, the Middlebury women’s water polo team dominated the competition and ended the weekend with first-place plaque in hand. The team, playing its first season in this new division, went undefeated in the eight games leading up to the championship tournament, and continued its strong play this past weekend.

“We were pretty confident coming into our championships,” said co-captain and standout goalie Kristen LaPlante ’10, noting that the team had already played and beaten all three of the teams they faced in the tournament.

However, due to the weeks-long gap in competition, the team recognized the fact that their competition had plenty of time to improve, and also took steps to ensure that they stayed on top of their game. Over spring break, the women jetted off to Florida for a training trip in which they faced some tougher competition. The extra practice certainly seemed to pay off, as the team looked sharp in front of an enthusiastic home crowd over the weekend.

The opening game against Bates on Saturday morning was a 12-0 blowout that allowed the full depth of the 18-player roster to get in playing time. Following on the heels of this success was the afternoon’s 13-4 beat-down on Bowdoin. Both games were very well attended by students, parents and water polo alums, and many fans were rocking “Midd Polo” T-shirts that were on sale outside Ross Dining Hall the week leading up to the tournament.

“It was great to see all the support, and to share our success with the fans,” said LaPlante. The team’s final game vs. M.I.T. –– the championship, held at 10:10 on Sunday morning –– was their closest of the weekend, but the Panthers pulled off the 4-2 win to clinch first place.

“The last game was very stressful,” noted Naomi Berkins ’11. “We fired lots of shots, but struggled to convert.”

Nevertheless, the stifling defense that has been the team’s anchor this season prevented M.I.T. from gaining a lead, and in the end the offense put the game away.

“I’d like to give credit to M.I.T. for the final game,” said LaPlante. “They held us to our lowest offensive production of the season, but we came up with big stops on defense when we needed to,” and that proved to be the difference.

The team has developed into a strong force in collegiate water polo since its inception 10 years ago. Coached by Brian Goodwin, the team is “a learning environment,” according to Berkins, and is “open to all players and all abilities.” LaPlante echoed this sentiment, adding, “Our coach does a great job of both bringing in new players and honing the skills of the more experienced players.” She attributes their success to great team chemistry and a “strong core group of players with experience that worked really hard, day in and day out.”

The team will head to Tucson, Ariz., in two weeks for Nationals, its second appearance in three years. They are looking to build off of this success and carry their program forward in an inspirational example of a socially oriented yet competitive club sport that has developed into a collegiate powerhouse.