The Concordia men’s water polo team is currently 2-7 after playing four top-15 teams at the Triton Invitational. Although they had a tough start to the season, their leaders are looking forward to the rest of the season and conference play.

Oscar Garcia Blomback, a junior captain from Mallorca, Spain said, “Timing and how much quicker you have to react to what is going on in the water was a big thing. Apart from being outmatched in size, the main factor was timing. We were always three seconds behind and although we would make the right decisions it was slow.” Garcia added, “Getting better at communicating and listening to our coach who knows what he is doing will be the best way to solve our issues.”

“The biggest takeaway is how to compete. We played against the highest level of competition, it was great to get the chance to compete against the best,” said Jacob Stuart, a senior captain from Yucaipa. Having a rough start to the season is not slowing these men down, they are keeping their heads up and looking forward to improvement in the rest of their season.

Stan De Mey, a senior captain from Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands said, “We have to believe we have the team to win it all this year. We have the ability from the goalies to field players and coaches to do it.” De Mey added, “We need to have the mindset that one goal is not enough, it needs to be five in a row. If we take that mindset and we get better at it, there should not be any team in our conference that can beat us.”

As Head Coach, Justin Johnson leads the Golden Eagles through his second season, the men believe the previous season was the good foundation that will help them bring home the conference championship. Luke Addington, a junior center defender from Clovis, California said, “The main thing I think our team learned was that we are in a better position than we were last year in terms of being able to compete with some of the better teams in the nation.”

Addington added, “We have a lot of experience within our unit, including some good veteran leadership. Through playing more teams, we gain more exposure to different styles of play and are able to adapt our play style in order to perfect the system we want to run.” By trusting that the games played against top teams in the nation will prepare these players come conference time, there will be no team that can stop them.  

De Mey added, “Last season was just a build-up for now. Last season we wanted to win it, but got second place in the conference tournament. Having our basics from last season will help us build into more tactics as the season goes on.”

The way De Mey, Garcia, and Stuart have been keeping the team motivated is not only through experience within the game but by being a leader outside of the water as well. “The sport we play is very physically and mentally challenging, I focus on keeping us on track with our goals. Being a captain and senior, I help encourage my teammates to step up for one another and leave it all in the pool,” said Stuart. 

“I have been told that I am very easy to talk to and I think that is what the coach wanted me to do,” Garcia said, “Coach wanted me to step up and be somebody you can come talk to if you have any problems.”

These Golden Eagles are keeping their heads high and are looking forward to the rest of the season along with the conference tournament which they will be hosting in November. 

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