Impressive Results for Water Polo Teams at Beast of the East Tournament
It was an action-packed weekend for boys' and girls' water polo as the teams competed in the Beast of the East tournament.
"We had a great weekend! I'm so proud of all the toughness and resilience the team showed," shared Coach Anna Safford '09. "It's no joke playing four full games in two days, and the girls came out ready to compete every time the whistle blew!"
"The team finished 2-2 and earned a place in Flight II, the second-highest of the tournament's five flights in a 39-team boys field," explained Head Coach Max Kelly '06.
The girls played two home games on Friday, Sept. 26, against Souderton Area High School (14-8 loss) and Reading High School (16-8 win). In the Reading game, Siena Scungio '27 fired in 10 goals, tallied four assists, and five steals. Lyla Skucas '28, Alina Wang '30 and Caroline Quinn '30 scored their first varsity goals.
Friday's results qualified the girls for Flight II of the tournament, EA's highest finish since 2022.
On Saturday, the team traveled to Springfield Township High School (Erdenheim, PA) to face a tough Cumberland Valley High School team. The girls dropped that game (13-3), as Cumberland Valley went on to win the flight.
The final game of the weekend was against powerhouse Wilson High School's B team, where the EA girls pulled off a 9-7 win.
"We had a standout performance in goal from Addi Thomas '27, notching 10 saves, and we had a very balanced attack, with goals scored by five different players. Alexandra McCarley '30 also contributed crucial offense by scoring 11 goals, stealing seven balls, and converting on three of her four penalty shot opportunities on the weekend," said Coach Safford. "Overall, the girls competed really hard, and we are excited to head into the second half of our season with a lot of knowledge and great experience."
The boys started strong on Friday with a 19-12 win over Souderton before falling to Greenwich High School (CT), which went on to reach the Flight I championship game. On Saturday, EA edged North Allegheny Senior High School (14-13) in overtime, then fell 15-11 to Gonzaga College High School, the eventual Flight II runner-up.
"Senior Captains Charlie Smith, Gavin Thibodeau, and Lucas van Binsbergen, along with fellow seniors Joe Doyle, Grayson DiAngelo, Jameson Stallkamp, and Reece Murdocca, set the pace and the physical tone all weekend," said Coach Kelly. "I am very proud of the way we played. We kept playing harder, smarter, and together, and we never stopped playing as a group."
Gavin and Charlie led the way in scoring while Lucas made two crucial saves in overtime to secure the win against North Allegheny.
"Ben McCarley '28, who leads the team in exclusions drawn, created numerous man-up opportunities. Joe Doyle stepped up his defense and scored key goals against North Allegheny. Curran Dougherty and Jameson had strong showings at both ends of the pool, and Reece provided a spark off the bench throughout the weekend," said Coach Kelly.
Younger players also made a difference in the Souderton game, with Ryan Burke '30, Ryan Lusch '30, Danny Chirinos '30, Keaton Varga '29, Keith Dong '28, Brayden Ghazzouli '28, and Jake Liang '30 all contributing in the water.