Water Polo at the RPI Alumni Tournament

The Water Polo team travelled to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to participate in the RPI Alumni Tournament. The team played four games and won all handily. The first of the team’s three games on Saturday was against the University of Massachusetts; after the Army team gained a quick four goal lead, the starters were subbed out and the team began to integrate some of the younger players into the game. Leadership provided by CDT Hayden Ward as whole set defense allowed the team to pressure UMass defensively, and goalie play by Plebe’s CDT Jeffery Stark and CDT Elizabeth Challenger, kept the Army team in the lead. All of the members of the team were able to get in and produce opportunities as Army cruised to a 21-5 victory. After a short break, the team came back to play against RPI. Superior defense allowed the team to counterattack successfully and shots by CDTs Leonid Milman and Brendon Cagney set the team up for success. As younger players were subbed into the game, the team focused on offensive movement and were able to continue to score with ease; Army would go on to win this game 19-5. The third and last game of the day against Adirondack was to be the Army team’s most challenging game of the competition. Set up by good whole set play from CDT Colin Stone, the team was able to jump start to an early lead, but at times struggled with ball control on the offensive side of the ball. In the second half, the team was able to correct these mistakes and went on to a dominating 17-9 victory. After a team dinner and a nights rest, the team came back on Sunday for the last game of the tournament, which was against the RPI alumni team. Army dominated this game from the start, and contributions from newcomers CDTs Patrick Cowley and Seth Nordell on both ends of the pool kept the team in the lead. Every member of the team swam hard and showed the strength of their character as members of the opposing team looked to undermine their victory. Army went on to finish their unblemished weekend with a score of 18-8.