- Matthew Kim ’21 & John Frauenhofer ’22
The new school year has begun, and with it so have fall sports. Water polo, arguably the Gators’ best sport, is beginning a new that will be different from recent years. The team is coming off of one of its best seasons yet, winning WCAL and CCS Open Division.
Despite having no seniors, the team has many young crucial players. The are two freshmen on varsity this year: Will Suart and Jake Tsotadze. There is no doubt that these freshmen are the future of the program, especially with juniors and sophomores to guide them. Having no one graduating after this season means more people returning to the team next year, which allows for great chemistry to be built between the players.
One would probably think that graduating such a strong water polo class would put some stress on this year’s team. Sacred Heart Prep graduated several Division 1 commits in May, leaving big shoes to fill for the team. However, this team is ready for anything. Sophomore goalie Griffen Price says, “We don’t feel stressed about meeting the standards of last years team. Every group of players has different goals, and we are focused on doing the best we can, regardless of last year’s success.” Plaschke says, “Our mindset this year is to go all out and give everything we have to the program and nothing really changes that.”
Although all the players may have different goals for themselves this season, they all have the same endgame in mind: to win Sacred Heart’s ninth consecutive CCS Championship. To do so, the Gators have been putting in some serious work. Luke Weigle says, “We’re grinding. Hell week was difficult as it always is, but we’re hoping to become an even better team with every practice.” From a junior perspective, Andrew Plaschke adds, “We are a young team so there are many new things that we need to work on everyday to get to where we need to be.” Having no seniors means that the team has to work even harder to compensate for the lower amount of overall experience.
With that mentality, the Gators are ready to chomp this season and bring home another championship. Andrew is “looking forward to a great season with a great group of guys.” The team needs all of Sacred Heart’s support, and the best games to show support are all the playoffs CCS games. Come out to support the team and go Gators!
Photo from Hudl.com
