Bear Polo Takes Two Out of Three Matches at Deerfield, Falls to Brunswick

Exeter boys' water polo made the hike to Deerfield Academy on Saturday to play three games against Brunswick Academy, Hopkins School, and Williston Northampton School. Big Red came away with two nice wins against Hopkins and WNS with scores of 12-9 and 20-6, respectively, and a tough 14-4 loss at the hands of Brunswick. This was Bear Polo's first loss of the season as they improved to 5-1 after Saturday's contests.The game against Brunswick was never really close. "Brunswick was just more skilled and in better shape than us, as they always are," upper Ernesto Brown said. Brunswick's experience also also helped them tough. "The Brunswick guys play together year round, they gel and play well as a unit, which allows them to see the game around them in a way that we can only do towards the end of the season," senior captain Brooks Saltonstall said.Bear Polo started the game Hopkins game slow, allowing Hopkins to jump out to an early 4 goal lead. The team pulled it together though and rallied, chipping away until the Exeter took the lead at the end if the third quarter, increased it to 12-9 in the 4th and battled until the end for the win. "Hopkins got away from us because they started the game with strong outside shots and fast counter attacks. As soon as they tired themselves out we were able to shut them down and come back for the win. It was in this game that we started to work together as a team. Even when one of our key players (Ernesto Brown) was ejected at the end of the third quarter we kept or heads up and we're able to keep the pressure on until the game ended,” Saltonstall said. The team started to work really well as a team after their slow start. "We just weren't in our element until the second half, but when we found it we were cruising until the end," lower Jon Lee said.Big Red road their momentum from the Hopkins game right into the match against WNS. Big Red rolled to a big early lead and never looked back. This allowed most of the team to log some time, and all of them played well. “The second unit played really well against WNS, they made a lot of really nice plays, it was nice to see,” Brown said.Saltonstall and upper David Shepley were the stars of the weekend, outworking everyone on both ends of the court. However the great team play that Big Red began to establish was the real highlight. The entire squad showcased their abilities over the weekend, showing encouraging signs for the team’s depth heading into the rest of the season and beyond.Bear Poll matches up against Choate Rosemary Hall this Saturday at home at 4:00 PM. The team hopes to continue their dominant opening to the season against a Choate team that has given them tough games year in and year out.