Water Polo Rebounds For Late Win against Choate

WALLINGFORD, CT - Despite initial troubles in the first half battling Choate Rosemary Hall’s quick and aggressive offense, Big Red worked to stay in the match and fight back with resilience, eventually claiming the hard-fought victory 11-9, another green light in their pursuit of the second straight NEPSAC championship win.Although filled with confidence before the game, Bear Polo quickly let themselves falter, going down 3-0 in the first quarter of the game. The beginning stages of the second quarter continued along the same track, and Exeter found themselves down 5-1.The team attributed this temporary slump to a combination of generally poor play and misjudgment of Choate’s strengths and weaknesses as a team.“We headed into the Choate game severely underestimating the other team. We were complacent with our play and didn’t really think that Choate was going to be a problem because they lost all of their starters from last year,” senior co-captain Nick du Pont said.Upper Brooks Saltonstall agreed. “We went into the game thinking we were going to have a really easy time with Choate, but however, we were surprised after the first quarter that they came out much stronger than we thought they would.”With senior co-captain JB Baker’s absence due to a foot injury adding to the difficulties, the team soon came to the realization that they would have to pick up their play. “At halftime, when we were down, we had to gather the team up and really say, ‘You guys gotta be a lot tougher on defense,’” senior co-captain Joe Shepley said.With a combined effort from the players, Exeter clawed their way into the game with the belief that they could take home the win. With du Pont earning 1-on-1 shot opportunities and scoring over half the goals, and Shepley playing phenomenal shutdown defense, the rest of the team followed suit to turn the tide. “We started first in the defense, getting stops that we needed, and then worked back to adding goals and closing the gap,” du Pont said.Eventually, Exeter went up by two with about a minute left, holding on to their lead from there on out. The final score of the game was 11-9, showing Big Red’s perseverance and ability to execute the most challenging comebacks.Although Baker’s absence was still felt in the pool, new, younger players have been training hard as the next line of athletes to keep up the strong legacy of the Exeter boys’ water polo program. “The team is great. They’re very welcoming, and the coaches are nice but difficult. They’re tough coaches,” prep Jonathan Lee said. “I think this is going to be a great year.”This weekend, the team will attend a two-day tournament at Greenwich, Conn., where they will face the two Greenwich high school teams and Lawrenceville Academy in a series of games. “It will be a good chance for us to play against some really good competition, so that we can grow to be tougher and better as a team and as individuals,” du Pont said.