Water Polo Sinks Loomis in OT
Lower Osiris Russell-Delano maintains possession of the ball and fights his way toward the opponent’s goalie. Loomis Chaffee’s opposing defender is blocking advancement of the ball, running down the last 40 seconds of overtime. Russell-Delano pushes into the defender, drawing a foul at 6 meters away from the goal. Without hesitation, he scoops the ball and whips it at the net, sending it flying past the shot-blocking hands of the defenders, deep into the back of the goal. The crowd goes wild for this goal, the one that secured the game for Exeter’s boys varsity water polo team with only 20 seconds left on the clock.
Last Saturday, the boys’ water polo team went head-to-head against Loomis Chaffee on home turf. The long game ended in a dub for Exeter, resulting in a season record of 7-7.
The team was confident and positive going into the game. The Big Red boys felt they had a sufficient understanding of how Loomis’s team worked and were ready to exploit this. “Loomis worked really well together as a team, so we had to switch the way we played the game. Loomis is a team that is known for their driving offense where they are constantly moving. So in practice this week, we worked on always being aware of what your man is doing and never getting beat on a drive,” lower Cooper Walshe explained.
In addition, the boys trained hard and honed in on other specific skills they knew would help them secure the win. “We worked on defending drives because we knew that was how Loomis played their offense,” upper Milo Walshe said. Also, they had “been working on being a team and communicating while in the water,” upper Sebastian Beck added.
Although the game was an overall success, the team had to work hard for its dub. “We started out strong and held the lead for almost the whole game. but [Loomis] adapted to our offense and was able to catch-up,” M. Walshe commented. This catch-up played by Loomis is what allowed “their best player, #9, to score from deep with 20 seconds left on the clock, sending the game to OT,” C. Walshe said.
“It got a little nerve-racking in the 4th quarter and in overtime,” M. Walshe said. However, the boys handled the situation with ease. In the beginning of overtime, Loomis and Exeter went shot for shot, ending the first half still tied up. In the second half, Upper Michael Carbone scored and Loomis matched with with 40 seconds of the game. Then, Russell-Delano hit Loomis with the hot-shot off the foul, putting Exeter up 11-10. “Osiris came off the bench and lit it up in overtime. He iced the game,” M. Walshe praised.
C. Walshe praised his teammates for rising to the occasion to defend Big Red’s honor in the water. “Loomis thought that if they lock down upper Michael Carbone, they could stop our offense. They were wrong because a number of other players on our team stepped up and made some big plays. They were not prepared for the way that we came out playing.”