Water Polo: A Year in Review

Water Polo: A Year in Review

Griffin Gudaitis '18, Staff Writer

I was able to sit down with senior captain Mike Dillane of the Prep water polo team earlier this week. Dillane, getting ready to dive into this swim season, touched on how the season played out: “This year was really a rebuilding year for the team.  We lost fourteen seniors to graduation and only returned four varsity guys. As a result, we were looking to see guys step up into new roles and work on developing the team for the future, while trying to win as much as possible in the present.  JV had a very successful year and finished third in the Garden State Cup, their highest finish ever, and ended the year with a winning record. Varsity finished fifth in the Garden State Cup, ending the year with a losing record.” Although varsity may have had a losing record, it does not reflect the effort put forth by the varsity guys.  Resilience is the ability to back a defeat, which the varsity team showed in their efforts towards the end of the season.

Dillane continued, “Overall, it was an exciting year.  The team had several good wins and the future certainly looks bright. The key players on varsity were the captains: Mike Dillane, Mark Imus, and Matt Hart. The leading scorers of varsity were Sean Mikovits, Devin Siracuse, Mike Dillane, Sean Regan, and Mark Imus, while Griffin Whitmer protected the goal for Prep. The leading JV scorers were Tom Lee and Matt Dillane with Gavin Freeman standing in cage for the marauders.¨

“The turning point came in the middle of the year during a game against Canterbury.  After suffering a blowout loss in the first game against them, the team really turned it around, winning 13-9.  The win pushed the team to two more victories against Trinity and Lawrenceville before playing in the Garden State Cup,” claimed Dillane. Clearly, the effort put forth by Prep paid off. Not only were they able to beat a team which had already beaten them, but they also beat Trinity and Lawrenceville. All in all, the Prep water polo season went well, and we wish our seniors the best of luck when they have to leave Prep.