PHILADELPHIA – On September 12, 2016 at 6:45pm, La Salle University’s Men’s Water Polo team made its historic first appearance at Kirk Pool against Villanova, becoming the 20th men’s team in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA). Their diverse 16-man roster includes 12 freshmen and players from eight different states and one from Lancaster, United Kingdom. The team secured their second win of the season in front of a rowdy home crowd as their record moves to 2-2.
The team started their inaugural season alongside 25 other teams in the Navy Open at Annapolis, Md. They came up short against McKendree University and Fordham University on the first day, and then again against Navy during the second day, but they secured their first win of the season 16-9 versus the California Institute of Technology.
Kirk Pool, La Salle University - PSD photo by Emilee Desmond
Looking to extend their win streak to two on Monday against Nova, the team started off warmups with a focused and winning mindset. Freshman and captain, Jeffrey Brady, gathered the team just before the start of the game.
“The other captain, Owain Llewellyn, and I were just getting the team ready to play. It was our first home game as a brand new program, we had a lot to prove. We wanted to make sure the rest of the team knew that we had to defend our pool and play our game,” Brady said.
Villanova scored the first goal early on, but it didn’t take long for the Blue and Gold to come firing back. They took an 8-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, and scored 7 unanswered goals throughout the second quarter to put them up 15-2 at the end of the half.
At the start of the second half, Jacob Kingsberg relieved Owain Llewellyn in goal and the Explorer’s offensive scoring didn’t stop. Villanova took a timeout with three minutes left in the third quarter after allowing La Salle to score their 18th goal of the game. Even though Nova utilized their timeout to regroup and score a quick goal, La Salle would score five more times before the end of the game to secure an impressive 23-5 victory.
“We used the first couple of losses to learn and gain experience,” Brady said. “We all knew that we could only improve and that we did. Every person on the team contributed from top to bottom and I couldn’t ask for anything more. We are continuing to work hard and are only getting stronger as a team each time we jump in the pool.”
Brady currently leads the team offensively with 16 goals this season, including four against Villanova, and freshmen Joey DeFusco and Alex Pitcher also serve offensive threats for the Explorers. Goaltender Owain Llewellyn leads the team with 27 saves while Jacob Klingsberg has 14 stops.
“Our main goal as a team this season is to work hard and improve. There is work that needs to be done but we have a team filled with players who are willing to put in the work in and out of the pool. We will win as a team and we will lose as a team, it’s as simple as that. Every person does their part and I can see this team doing some good things.” Brady said.
The Explorers face their next set of opponents at Salem International Weekend from September 24-25.