The men’s water polo team kicked off their season Wednesday night with a big win at home in front of an impressive crowd at the Athletic Centre. Having dominated the entire game, the final score had the Blues winning 13-7 over the York Yeomen.
“We’ve been practicing really hard and we have a great bunch of guys on this team,” said head coach Som Seif. “A lot of the young guys are really talented and have come together well with our accomplished veterans. Our training so far seems really to have paid off.”
Looking at the team’s dominating performance in the season opener, Seif does not seem far off the mark with his comments. The Blues held court over the entire game and demonstrated good teamwork and determination.
Nevertheless, this being the first game of the season, there were some imperfections in the team’s play. This was expected by the players and coaching staff, who know there is still a lot of work to be done.
“Our extra man was not that good,” acknowledged goalie Damir Geljo. “We gave up a lot of goals there; that should not have happened. We have to work on this new defensive play we have called the ‘ball-side’ defence, so that everyone works together. Offensively, we have to work on our drop offence, and definitely on our communication,” he said.
Seif is confident enough to predict, “We should go to the finals—and win.”
U of T gets a chance to continue along the road to success in their next game on October 5, when they take on Carleton and Queen’s University at a tournament being held at McMaster.
