Bear Polo Slams Deerfield’s Doors
This past weekend, the boys’ varsity water polo team (nicknamed ‘Bear Polo’) went head to head against the top ranked team in the league: Deerfield Academy. Despite being the underdogs, Big Red pulled through the grueling game with a 7-6 win in overtime. This win improved Exeter’s season record to 6-7.
Anticipating a competitive game, the boys spent the week in practice focusing on working together and improving their offense.
Lower Cooper Walshe highlighted head coach Avery Reavill’s dedication in preparing the team to face Deerfield. “[Coach] Reavill stood out because he watched the game tapes on Deerfield and identified the strong and weak parts of their game. Then he tailored our practice to shut down the strong parts of their game, and it worked,” he said.
As the number one seed, Deerfield is one of the strongest teams in the league. Deerfield also has a highly touted senior player on its roster who has consistently led the team to its wins in the past. Despite this, Bear Polo’s spirit was unwavering, and they never doubted that the team would come out with the win.
“We knew if we played together as a team, this game was ours for the taking,” lower Aidan O’Brien said.
Walshe agreed and emphasized the importance of the team’s chemistry in the win. “We wouldn’t have won this game if we didn’t work together because to run the help defense we were doing, the whole team had to be on the same page, and we had to communicate non stop,” he said.
As a result of Family Weekend, there was a large home crowd presence in the stands. Combined with the competitive score of the game, the energy at the Roger Nekton Championship Pool was incredible. “It was an electric, down to the wire match,” upper Charlie Venci said.
While both teams started strong, Deerfield consistently held a lead over Bear Polo. By the end of the third quarter, Big Red was down 4-6. However, Walshe noted how a last minute Deerfield ejection was the turning point for Bear Polo. “Deerfield’s best player who took all but one of their shots [got] ejected from the game with 4 minutes left,” he said.
In these last four minutes, Exeter senior and co-captain Troy Marrero, whipped the ball past the goalie, sending the score to 5-6. Not long after, “[lower] Osiris Russell-Delano steals the ball, and the ball ends up with [upper] Charlie Venci. Charlie put his defender on a spin cycle then goes up to the goalie, baits him then chucks it into the back of the net with 20 seconds left.” Walshe said.
A strong comeback along with an impenetrable defense in the last quarter left the scoreboard tied at 6-6 by the end of the fourth quarter, and the game went into overtime. The boys were ecstatic with their recovery of points and went into overtime determined to defeat Deerfield. “We forced two OT periods and [upper] Michael Carbone scored early in OT to give us the go-ahead goal.” Venci said.
In the end, it was a team effort that allowed the team to come together and pull out a huge upset win. However, a couple of players stood out especially throughout the game. Venci recognized Carbone and upper goalie Sebastian Beck for their hard work throughout the match. “Carbone scored three of our seven goals and had some great lockdown defense,” he said. “Seb made some ridiculous saves in the final minutes and kept us in the game until the end. He played phenomenally well, and it was great to see him hyped after the buzzer sounded.”
Not only is this win meaningful for the team’s morale, but it also plays an important factor in deciding the fate of the rest of the season. By securing this win, Big Red still has a fighting chance to compete for the New England championship title. That tournament will be hosted by Exeter this year, at the Roger Nekton pool.
Walshe explained how Bear Polo, the reigning New England runner-ups, might return to the “Liquid 4” tournament. “We have two more regular season games against Loomis and Andover, so this win means that if we win our next two games, we will be in playoffs. If we only win one, then we’ll have a wildcard game to get into the playoffs,” he said.
The pressure is on for the team to keep up their positive mindset and exceptional playing in the pool. The team is anticipating their next two games and is eager to take home the New England trophy after two straight years of silver place finishes. “We are taking back the league. It has been out of Exeter hands for too long,” Venci stated simply.