Water Polo Competes in Rochester, NY

The Army West Point Water Polo team competed in the Webster Aquatics Centre Winter Games in Rochester, NY. This was the team’s first tournament of the second semester, and was the first opportunity that many players had to compete together. The team’s goals going into the tournament were to gain experience by playing against competitive masters teams while allowing the whole team a chance at play; this is in line with the overall goal of team development in the spring season. The team began the tournament with a tough match up against Kitchner Waterloo, a Canadian Masters team on Saturday morning. After gaining a lead the first half, thanks to the strong work of CDTs Shelby Lee, Leonid Milman, and Jeff Stark; the team fell behind in the second half and eventually suffered an 8-10 loss. In the second game, after an hour break, the Army team faced off against the Hamilton Masters team. Despite the efforts of CDT Lee as attacker and CDT Thomas Matty in whole set, the team suffered another disappointing loss. After taking a break for lunch and recalibrating, the team returned to the competition for their third game of the day against Rochester Men. After a strong start by the usual starting players, the Army team was able to let them take a break, and the rest of the team was able to get some playtime. CDT Patrick Cowley led the team from whole set; CDT Halle Kotchman continued her perfect 5-meter goal ratio for an easy win. In their last match-up of the day, the team faced off against a small squad from the University of Rochester. Once again, the whole team was able to contribute to the blowout victory, and everyone gained valuable game experience.