Girls’ Water Polo Finishes Season On a High Note

For their final two games of the season, Exeter played rematches against Choate and Suffield. Earlier in the season, Big Red lost to both these teams by just one goal, and this time they were hungry for revenge. The team did not have enough wins to qualify for the Liquid Four tournament, but they wanted to end the season on a high note. They won their first game against Choate with a whopping 13-4 end result and then breezed past Suffield, winning 8-3. Neither of the games were close, which goes to show how much the Exeter team has improved over the season.

Almost all the other teams in the league, including Choate and Suffield, play in pools with a shallow end. In contrast, Exeter’s home pool is deep throughout. Other teams often struggle to play the girls at home because the opponents often get tired without being able to touch the bottom. Practicing in an all-deep-end pool has conditioned the girls over the course of the season, and they swam faster for longer in the two games.

“We were calm and didn’t feel the pressure of winning because these were our last games no matter what happened.”

With more endurance and speed, Exeter started their double header with a couple of quick goals and snagged a comfortable four goal lead in the first quarter against Choate. The girls did not get complacent and kept adding to their lead, shutting Choate’s offense down. The stout defense that Big Red has been working on all season provided trouble for their opponents.

According to Prep Issy Wise, “Our defense was really great. It took Choate almost until half time to even score one goal, and by that point we were already up by a lot,” she said.

In the second half, some of the Choate players never swam back to play defense because of their frustrations on offense and Exeter capitalized with even more goals from all different players. The massive win knocked Choate out of the playoffs.

Unlike many of their other games, Exeter rested in between their two games before taking on Suffield. The second game started out much like the first, with Exeter taking an early lead. The combination of accurate outside shots and good passes led to some flawless goals by Exeter players. Suffield had the same troubles with scoring as Choate and only got three shots past Exeter’s senior goalie Madison Hillyard.

The offensive and defensive accomplishments derived from many different factors. “We came into the games knowing that it was the last time we’d play with some of the girls and we definitely wanted it more than the other teams. We were calm and didn’t feel the pressure of winning because these were our last games no matter what happened,” lower Maddie Shapiro said.

Although the girls did not qualify for the playoff tournament, they had a positive ending to a tough season. They finished with a record of 6-8, which was still impressive considering that they lost most of their games by only one goal.

The returning players next year plan to having more success next year. Upper Emily LaRovere noted, “Our five seniors were sad to have it end but they taught us so much and prepared us for next year. I’m very excited to watch all the young girls progress and I’m looking forward to next year.”