The Tufts club water polo team is at it again.
Having placed third at the Div. III Club Nationals for the past three consecutive years, the team knows that it has a chance to do some damage at the Club Nationals this upcoming weekend at Bowdoin.
Tufts enters the championship as the No. 3 seed after an undefeated 11-0 regular season campaign. The Jumbos also come into the tournament as the North Atlantic Club Champions, having taken down the Coast Guard in the finals of the North Atlantic Championships in order to keep their perfect record in tact. This high level of success, according to the team, is just as much due to the physical condition of the players as it is to their mental approach to each game.
"The team has been very ecstatic about our accomplishments this year," senior tri-captain Mack Carlson said. "We lost some strong seniors last year and thought that this year might be a rebuilding year, but we have put in a lot of work to come together as a successful team. We have learned to calm down as a team and try to make sure that we play every quarter with the mentality that the score is 0-0. And most importantly get out there, have fun and play our games, and so far it has been working."
With the loss of big-impact players to graduation, such as offensive juggernauts Pete Georgakakos (LA '09) and Ben Mitchell (LA '09), as well as goalie James Longhurst (LA '09), the team has flourished on the talent of the players with less experience who have stepped up as leaders.
"We have had great performances from [sophomore] Benji Koltai, our hole set and leading scorer, while [junior] Alex Abeger and [senior tri-captain] Braulio Rivas have done a great job locking down the opposing hole sets on defense," Carlson said.
"[Senior] Matt Miller has developed into a real offensive threat. Also our new sophomore Alex Strittmatter has been a great addition to our offense," he continued. "And our new goalkeepers [juniors] Brian Canter and Matt Glenn have stepped up to protect the cage. [Senior] Matt Burke and [senior tri-captain] Lawrence Chan also have had great all-around seasons so far."
Because it is a school-recognized club, the water polo team's league dues are subsidized by Tufts; however, all transportation, hotel rooms and equipment are paid for out-of-pocket by the roughly 25-member team. As for this weekend's trip to Bowdoin and the National Championship, the Jumbos are not thinking at all about the cost. In their minds, the task is quite clear.
"We have placed third at Div. III Club Nationals three years running, and this year we are hoping to improve upon that record," Carlson said.
