The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

Water polo edges Notre Dame, begins CIF playoff run

By David Gobel

 

The Wolverine water polo team is headed to CIF playoffs after finishing with an overall record of 14-8 and a league record of 5-3. Last year, the team made it all the way to the quarter finals before losing to Newport Harbor.

Three starters, Langdon Froomer ’12, Kayj Shannon ’11 and Bradley Schine ’12 were all injured during the course of the season.

Schine, who has returned for the CIF playoffs after suffering from a broken nose, has developed over the season into an important part of the Wolverine team.

“Bradley Schine has emerged as an outstanding center defender who is an integral part of this team,” player Alec Zwaneveld ’12 said.

“When he is in the water, he serves as an anchor for our defense and a speedy play maker on the offensive end,” he said.

The team’s main focus is preparing for CIF playoffs. The first round playoff game is a home game today against Dana Hills at Zanuck Staduim.

“The team is going over tactics and plays that will allow us to run them as if they were second nature during important times of games,” Zwaneveld said.

One of the biggest games the team played this season was against the Cathedral Phantoms on Homecoming.

“The greatest moment so far this season was winning our Homecoming game in the fourth overtime period.” Zwanaveld said. “We really felt the support of the entire school that day.”

Fans packed into Zanuck Stadium for the game and were treated to a spectacle of acrobatic goals and rising tensions. The Wolverines managed to come back from a 9-7 deficit with 2:30 left in the game and sent the game into overtime.

Some Wolverine players, including goalie Tyler Greeno ’12 and Zwaneveld, left the game due to foul trouble during the overtime periods.

Eventually, Shannon scored the winning goal in the fourth overtime, sending the huge crowd into a frenzy.

Other highlights of the season included a 20-1 blowout against league foe Alemany on Senior Day and two big wins against league rival Notre Dame. The team won 11-4 against Notre Dame and then triumphed at home in the final league game of the regular season, winning 13-7.

However, the Wolverine water polo team lost twice against Loyola and had a large loss to Loyola at home 15-6.

“The most disappointing part of our season was losing against our biggest rival Loyola,” Andrew Hotchkiss ’11 said.

“I am really proud of the team that I have the privilege to play on,” Zwaneveld said. “There are no better friends than the ones [with] whom you travel through adversity with.”          

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The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School
Water polo edges Notre Dame, begins CIF playoff run