By Alex Clark ’20 PC: Robby Cordova ’19
Bellarmine’s varsity water polo team finished the season 19-10 overall and 4-2 in league play. Though they lost a tightly contested WCAL final to Sacred Heart Prep, they made their way through the CCS open division and were crowned CCS Co-Champions with Sacred Heart Prep. The game was canceled due to the fires which made the air quality too poor to play in. Despite the game being canceled, the team prepared for the much-anticipated matchup against Sacred Heart Prep, who became Bellarmine’s water polo rival throughout the season. The Bells faced Sacred Heart three times throughout the season and while they lost all three games, each matchup was closely contested and was decided by three goals or fewer each time.
Max Walsworth ‘20 has played on the Varsity Water Polo team since he was a freshman, and he recalled a past matchup against Sacred Heart that was decided by one goal. “In our last tournament we played SHP and we lost 12-11. We were beating them the entire game, however in the fourth quarter they ended up getting the best of us, and we couldn’t close the game out the way we wanted too. And they beat us 12-11, but that game gave us hope that we could beat them, and we knew that we could beat them,” he said.
Max then commented about the matchup for the CCS title. “If we played against Sacred Heart, our team felt that we could beat them. We had been preparing all season for that game. I truly believed that we had what it took to beat them and claim that CCS title,” he added on.
Throughout the season, there have been many bumps along the way, and Max believed that the matchup against Valley Christian came as the biggest surprise. “In our last league game we played Valley Christian and we lost nine to six… I by no means want to disrespect Valley Christian’s water polo program but we felt that we should have won that game [and] we didn’t come ready to play. We didn’t play our brand of water polo and they beat us, which shocked the entire team,” he said.
On a roster filled with talent, there were several notable seniors that made the greatest impact on the team this season. “I think our top 3 players were Gabe Discipulo ‘19, Dominik Kirk ‘19 and Nicky Fontes ‘19. But I think Gabe has been our best player this year. Not only with his skills in the pool, but the leadership that he exemplifies and he has been such a great motivator for our team this season. Our team really rallied around him this season,” Max said.
The 2018-2019 Water Polo season ended on a high note as the Bells won another CCS Championship. Next year, it will be all about defending the title. Go Bells!