Sports
Hamilton water polo defeats NYU to place fifth
By Kendall Weir '12, Sports Editor
November 10, 2011
Who says you can’t beat the same team three times in a season? The Hamilton Water Polo Club does.
The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Club Championship took its course as if Hamilton was destined to get a final chance against bitter rival NYU after already losing to them twice this season. The third time was truly a charm.
In a low scoring affair, eighth-seeded Hamilton more than held their own in a see-saw game against top-seeded Monmouth College, this year’s Heartland Division Champions. The Continentals led 2-1 at the half, thanks in large part to successful shutdown defense and lights out play by netminder Graham Boyd ’14.
“The biggest factor in the Monmouth game was defense,” said first-year player Nicholas Ruppel ’15. “Graham ‘Big Cat’ Boyd had his best game of the season. He was the reason we were able to stay in that game.” Ruppel scored the equalizer with under two minutes to play to make it 5-5, but Player of the Game Steve Collins ’12 of Monmouth found the back of the net with 12 seconds to play to hand host Hamilton a heartbreaking loss.
In Hamilton’s next matchup against Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), defense played substantially less of a factor. Thomas Youngblood ’13 scored seven goals, including one with just five seconds left on the clock, to cap off the Continentals’ rally over CMU and seal a 10-9 victory.
Their first two games were decided in the waning seconds. They lost to NYU twice this season. What better way to end their season than to get one last shot at them to compete for fifth place at the 2011 Division III National Club Championship?
“This is our third year in this league, and every game we play against them always gets heated,” asserted Co-captain James Crafa ’12. Hamilton certainly came out heated, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first period, with goals by Youngblood, Taylor Hogenkamp ’13 and Reuben Dizengoff ’15.
The Hamilton and NYU water polo clubs have fostered a rivalry in which, regardless of what happens during the rest of the season, their games will always come down to the end. They get to play their own Backyard Brawl, only theirs is in the pool.
Ruppel and Youngblood scored down the stretch, and Hamilton’s refined defense successfully put down NYU’s attempt at a rally. The Continentals edged the Bobcats 11-9 to place fifth in the 2011 Division III Collegiate Club Championship.
“Beating NYU during my last game as a Continental is something I will never forget,” said Crafa, ecstatically. “To finally beat them at Nationals, at our home pool, is one of the greatest memories I will have at Hamilton.”
Crafa sternly commented that, “Without Graham [Boyd], we wouldn't have stood a chance against any team there,” and Ruppel added, “It's no secret [Youngblood] is our best offensive weapon. As they say in water polo, he rips twine.” Next year’s unquestioned leaders, Boyd and Youngblood, both made the all-tournament team.
As the captains called for in earnest leading up to the tournament, Hamilton students, faculty and staff flocked to Bristol Pool in full force to promote the team’s success. Youngblood said, “I have never heard the pool get that loud and revved up. We definitely wouldn't have done so well had we not had the support from so many fans.”
Crafa and Co-captain Tom Cyran ’12, despite being saddened at parting ways with a team they helped build, could not have ended their water polo careers on a better note and have reason to be enormously optimistic about the club’s future.