Boys’ Water Polo Dominates Double-Header

Big Red Boys’ Varsity Water Polo (Bear Polo) made a statement on the road this past Saturday, bringing home two wins in a double header against Suffield and Hotchkiss. In the first game against Hotchkiss, Big Red reigned victorious with a final score of 16-4.

Going into the second game against Suffield, Exeter had unfinished business. In the past few years, Bear Polo has historically won against Suffield. However, the Tigers got the best of Big Red at the beginning of the 2018 season. This year, Exeter proved to be the better team, drowning Suffield with a final score of 12-9.

In the 2019 season, the team has welcomed three recruits: two preps and an upper. The efforts of these new players, along with the hard work that many players put in over the summer, are already paying off. Bear Polo has a very strong team this year and the players are hyped to compete with the rest of the league. “I was excited to play these two teams because our squad improved a lot from last year to this year,” said upper Adam Tuchler. 

With the order of matches on Saturday, upper David Mancini viewed the Hotchkiss game as a warm up that set them up for a win in their more challenging game against Suffield. “The Hotchkiss game got us warmed up and excited for the Suffield game which was the real test,” Mancini explained. 

In the match against Suffield, Tuchler emphasized the pressure was high, because of Exeter’s loss the year prior and their initial standing in the game. Suffield struck fast, claiming an early lead that stuck through the end of the first half. However, the team was able to gain motivation when senior Michael Carbone scored two goals within a minute through penalties right at the start of the third quarter. “Our motivation dropped when we were losing to Suffield by two points, but Michael brought it back to us by scoring two 5-meter shots and leveling the playing field,” Tuchler said.

A highlight for the team was Mancini’s half court shot that went bar down (hit the bar and into the goal). “This last game [Mancini] had some pretty nice and strong shots from the middle of the pool from the halfway point that turned the game over for our win,” Carbone said. 

Prior to Mancini’s goal, Exeter was tied with Suffield. But with Mancini’s laser in the last four minutes of the fourth quarter, the team claimed their first lead of the game. “My half tank shot that went bar down got the crowd and our team screaming at the top of their lungs,” Mancini said. Following Mancini’s goal, upper Osiris Russel-Delano and senior captain Charlie Venci each netted a goal to seal the win.

Coming out of a tight game with Suffield, Tuchler highlighted several factors that helped the team turn the tables in the second half of the game. “A few things that contributed to our success were our spirit, our preparation and most importantly our intensity in the pool,” he said.

Despite the wins, the team is continuously looking to improve their play in order to keep up their winning streak. “We need to have a better combination of teamwork, which will only come with playing together more often, and conditioning, which we work on every practice,” Carbone said. Bear Polo’s next game will be another double header against WNH and Hopkins this Saturday.