This past weekend at the Rolfs Aquatics Center, the #16 Notre Dame Men’s Water Polo Team hosted the 2006 Great Lakes Conference Championships. Entering as the second seed, the Irish faced fourth-seeded Ball State on Saturday afternoon in the first round. The game was never in doubt, as ND put away the Cardinals 13 – 5. Everyone on the team got into the action, with nine different players scoring goals.
This win sent the Irish into the semi-finals to face the third seed, University of Dayton, on Sunday morning. The Irish came out firing, going up 6-0 in the first quarter. Leading the attack was sophomore co-captain Patrick Connors, with three goals. Junior Colin Dunn and senior co-captain Jon Kelly led the Irish at the defensive end of the pool, stifling the Dayton offense, which did not produce a goal until late in the second quarter. At halftime, the Irish led 9-2. As the second half started, the team continued to dominate possession of the ball, leaving Dayton very few chances, and frustrating them on the defensive end. Senior George Heidkamp, junior Khaw Zhan Wei, sophomores Joel Thielen and Devin Fee, and freshman Craig Bentzen all got on to the score sheet, as the Irish finished off the Flyers, 14-6.
The finals placed Notre Dame against #1 Grand Valley State, the defending national champions. This marks the fifth straight time these two teams have met in the conference final. The Irish came out looking the better of the two squads in the first quarter, as senior co-captain Stephen Shepard found fellow senior Kelly streaking down the middle of the pool with a well-timed pass, which Kelly then slammed home from five meters out, to put the Irish up 1-0. Grand Valley tied it up, but with two minutes left in the quarter Shepard drew a foul, and slotted it past GVSU goalkeeper Kirk Kaufmann from seven meters, giving Notre Dame a 2-1 lead.
In the second quarter, Grand Valley came out with vengeance, attempting to rattle freshman goalie Dave Mazur with some long range attempts, which he dealt with coolly. Dunn and Kelly continued to be superb on defense reigning in GVSU’s Chris Posthumus, the defending National Player of the Year. In fact, the Irish limited Posthumus to one goal all game, and Wei was everywhere on defense, collecting eight steals in the game. Sophomore hole set Tom Fletcher scored, as did Bentzen, but a late goal from Grand Valley notched the game up at halftime, 4-4.
The third quarter was Notre Dame’s undoing however, as the defense made a few mistakes and allowed the Lakers to score three unanswered goals early. Notre Dame took a time out, settled down, and from that point on, shut down GVSU’s offense the rest of the quarter. Wei scored on a breakaway, to bring it to 8-5, but an unlucky rebound off of a GVSU miss resulted in a goal for the visitors, making it 9-5 entering the fourth.
On the Irish’s first possession of the fourth quarter, Fletcher got the ball in set and crafted a good shot to beat Kaufmann and bring Notre Dame back within three. A few possessions later, Shepard once again beat the keeper from distance, forcing Grand Valley to take a quick timeout. Riding this momentum, the Irish continued to attack, but unfortunately, it was not to be the day, as ND could only manage one more goal through Shepard on a man-advantage. The final score read 11-8, but the Irish can certainly be satisfied with their efforts. Their second place finish also means that the team will be the 15 seed at CWPA Nationals, taking place November 17th-19th at Miami (OH). This marks only the third time the team has qualified for Nationals.