Entering the post-season as the top seed, U of T’s men’s water polo team will try for consecutive Ontario University Athletics (OUA) championships and their third in four years. The Blues will face fourth-seeded Queen’s Saturday in a semifinal game November 26 at McMaster University.
Coach Sam Seif said the Blues must make use of every player on the team to have a successful playoff campaign: “In water polo, and this is especially true in the post-season, it’s not your one-through-three players that make a difference, but your four, five, six, and seven guys that help out and surprise you,” he said. “We will need to utilize everyone we have.”
Seif also cited the need for the team’s goalkeepers to be consistent to ensure a Blues victory: “If they aren’t sharp, then a few fluke goals get in and it’s a completely different game.”
The Blues will face the Golden Gaels squad they dispatched 14-5 here Saturday. Despite their recent success against Queen’s, Seif knows U of T cannot take their opponent lightly.
“They have determination,” the coach said. “You can never take anyone for granted, especially as we will be playing in a smaller pool. We will probably use a zone defence against them and play to our strengths.”
Those strengths were evident in the Blues’ 23-4 win over Western on Friday, which saw the best offensive output of the year for U of T.
The Blues thrashed Western’s all-too-quiet defensive front, especially its left side.
“We have strong right-handed slots, and we certainly played to our strengths,” Seif said.
By the fourth quarter, U of T had a 21-3 lead and had substituted out their entire starting squad. The Blues’ second team outscored Western 3-1 in the final frame.
For the weekend, the Blues top scorers were Sean Mcghie and Paul-Micah Sullivan with nine goals apiece.
-CP
The team also defeated the third-ranked Carleton Ravens 11-7 on Saturday at the Athletic Centre, completing a perfect weekend.
Although the Ravens jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, it was clear from the beginning that the Blues were faster and more dynamic than their opponents.
After a couple of shots that went off the crossbar, the Blues unleashed an offensive onslaught that did not stop until the last quarter of the game. There were blistering one-timer goals; there were balls gently lobbed over the Carleton goaltender’s head; and goals from the point which managed to find their way through the mass of flailing hands and into the top corner of the net.
By the end of the assault, U of T’s Paul-Micah Sullivan and Jake Pottier had scored three goals each, and the score was 10-3 in favour of the Blues.
Ravens coach Andras Szeri was almost as much fun to watch as the game itself. When one of his players leaped for a ball, Szeri leaped into their air, and when the Raven’s missed a shot, he cried out in agony. When not leaping or crying out, he released a constant string of expletives which caused parents in the crowd to cup their hands over the ears of their young children.
Though the Ravens managed to pot two more goals and make the score look respectable, they were unable to complete the comeback. The game ended with the sound of the buzzer, a score of 11-7, and a final, echoing “Holy fuck!’
-MZ
