Boys Varsity Water Polo vs Villanova Prep

September 27, 2022

On September 27th, the boys water polo team hosted its second league game of the season against Villanova Prep. In the first period, we got off to a strong offensive start. Wade Nieman ’23 and Phin Stephenson ’25 contributed big-time goals to give us an early lead. I thought this was Phin’s best game of the season thus far. The sophomore standout finished the match with a game-high four goals. We jumped out to a 5-1 lead but Villanova began to storm back. Some mental errors by us allowed ‘Nova to cut the deficit to one by the end of the first.

After a shaky finish to the first quarter, our boys cleaned up their play. The second and third periods were fueled by strong counterattacks. Cyrus Symington ’23, Bae Breene ’25, and Sebastian Brine ’26 all got on the board from fastbreak opportunities. A staggering defense led by goalkeeper Emmett Mack ’23 prevented Villanova from getting easy scoring chances. Emmett stopped two five-meter penalty shots and contributed to the counterattack with great outlet passes. Brian Payne ’23 had a terrific game for us, as well, on the defensive end of the pool. He had 4+ steals and was critical for us in transition defense. Lastly, Christian Busse ’25 gave us a huge spark on both ends of the pool. Busse did an excellent job distributing the ball to his teammates and guarding some of Villanova’s top scorers.

In the end, Cate would walk away with a 15-5 victory. This win improves our league record to 1-1. Looking ahead, we have another league game this Thursday the 29th against Bishop Diego High School. The game will be played at Cate starting at 4 pm. Please continue to pack the pool as the
support has been terrific this season. Go Rams!