Boys Varsity Water Polo vs Pioneer Valley

September 25, 2022

Yesterday, September 23rd, the boys varsity water polo team played in their first home game of the season versus Pioneer Valley High School. Pioneer Valley started the game fast, scoring the first two goals of the game from the whole set position. Cate was able to bounce back with two outstanding interior goals from senior captain, Wade Nieman. He would put away another shot to end the period, this time from the perimeter. Wade has been our leading scorer up to this point in the season and has shown no signs of slowing down. He would finish the match with four goals. After one, Cate trailed 5-3.

As the game progressed, our defensive intensity and focus rose to another level. We were able to prevent passes to the whole set and essentially take their top scorer out of the game allowing us to tighten the score. Emmett Mack ’23 had a huge penalty shot save, amongst many other blocks, and helped swing momentum on our side. We had a fantastic crowd that got our guys excited to play. We fed off of their energy and began to execute on the offensive end of the pool. Cyrus Symington ’23 got involved, scoring two goals in the third period — one on a fast break opportunity and the other from an impressive post up in front of the goal. It was a one-goal game going into the fourth period. Kairei Jones ’24 and Sebastian Brine ’26 each had great games for us. They played hard nose defense and did a wonderful job distributing the ball around the pool. Unfortunately, a few balls didn’t bounce our way in the 4th, and we would end up with a 9-6 defeat.

Luckily, this was a non-league game and we still have a shot to compete for a league title. Looking ahead, we play three home games next week. Varsity plays on Tuesday against Villanova and Thursday against Bishop Diego. JV plays against Hueneme on Wednesday. Please continue to pack the pool and bring the energy. Go Rams!