Men's water polo began its season over the weekend by hosting the North Atlantic Division Western Regional Qualifying Tournament, where they took on Middlebury College and the University of Vermont. Each of the three teams faced each other twice.
The first match of the weekend was against Middlebury, which came out strong against a newly reconfigured Big Green squad. Of four departing seniors, All-American Honorable Mention Matt Derr '04, Ross Markwort '04, Tom Sanford '04 and Mike Block '04, three were starters. They were replaced on the starting lineup by Jaren Hayes '07, Tom Healy '08 and first-year medical student Mike Bazylewicz , flanked by First Team All-American Ryan Goldhahn '04, returning for a fifth year as he completes his degree in engineering, seasoned Nick Chukiat '05 and promising speedster Kemper Deihl '06.
The starters took some time adjusting to each other, and the whole team was surprised by the talent of first-year Middlebury hole-set Toshi Kido '08 as well as first-year goalie Benot Lamerre. While Goldhahn scored first just 18 seconds into the game, his goal was answered by Kido and fellow Panthers, who put four goals past Big Green goalie Pierce Perotti '06 before the quarter was over. However, just as the final seconds on the clock ran out, Goldhahn opened his cannon from 20 meters out to blast a skip shot past the hot-shot Middlebury goalie.
The Big Green capitalized on a Panther ejection two minutes into the second quarter to decrease the deficit to one goal, however Middlebury fired back with three unanswered goals to take a commanding 7-3 lead into the half.
Dartmouth was not ready to throw in the towel just yet, and regrouped during halftime to redevelop its game plan. The plan was put into action by Goldhahn, who scored from the hole with a dominant backhand, despite the extra pressure of a slough defense. Chukiat got his name on the board thirty seconds later, capitalizing on a man-up situation with a quick-release outside shot. The Panthers managed to squeeze in another goal off the ejection of Bazylewicz, but Big Green came back with four unanswered shots, two resulting from power plays, to tie the game going into the fourth quarter.
While Middlebury started the fourth quarter with two goals, Dartmouth responded with two of its own to tie the game for the second time with less than three minutes to play. The Panthers' Alex Demas scored his fifth goal of the game moments later, and Dartmouth struggled to even it up in the remaining 2:30. Dartmouth failed to capitalize on a power play in the final minute of the game, which resulted in an 11-10 loss.
"I didn't prepare the team well enough to face the much improved Middlebury squad," said coach Jim Wilson. "They have four new freshmen starters including a new goalie and a new hole-set who have faced extensive competition in high school. Once we played the first match and found their strengths and weaknesses, we developed a much better game plan for Sunday."
Indeed, Sunday's performance was much improved. Although Middlebury got the sole score of the first quarter off a Big Green ejection, Goldhahn tied the game early in the second quarter. Chukiat followed suit a half-minute later during a power play to give Big Green the lead, and Dartmouth never looked back, winning 10-7.
One important improvement was in the Dartmouth defense, which denied Panther hole-set Kido a single goal on Sunday after allowing him three on Saturday. "Kemper, Mike and I guarded their hole-man with much more fervor on Sunday, and our defense stood up well to the inevitable ejections that followed," noted captain Nick Chukiat '05. "Mike was particularly effective against him. We also countered much harder over possession."
The strength of power plays was surely a factor, as Dartmouth converted four out of six, while holding Middlebury to only three of 11.
Dartmouth also faced UVM twice, defeating them handily on Saturday and Sunday, 21-3, and 14-2, respectively. The games were a good chance to fine-tune special plays, especially the power play defense.
"We really worked on our man-up defense in the UVM game Saturday, knowing full well that in order to contain Middlebury's outside shooting effectively, we would have to risk some ejections," said Wilson.
The games also gave the entire squad a chance to play, and every player on the team, except goalie Perotti, scored at least one goal over the weekend.
The ability of the Dartmouth squad to quickly adapt bodes well for success of their season. In addition to newcomers Healy and Bazylewicz, Big Green water polo welcomes first year undergraduates Neil "CoCo" Willis '08 and Chris Knape '08, first-year medical student Jared Adams, varsity swimmer crossovers Steven "BK" Brown-Klinger '05, Noah Zandan '05 and Shane Foster '07, and former swimmer Ben Cassady '05. Brian Taylor '06 and Neil Putman '06 return for their third season.
"The swimming talent will maintain our traditional ability to out-swim, out-counter, and outlast our opponents, and the swimmers are quickly learning the intricacies of the game," said Wilson. "Our goal for the season is first to win the North Atlantic Division, where Middlebury is our strongest opponent, and second, to better our finish of last year at Club Nationals, where we placed 11th."
