This past weekend, the ND Men’s Water Polo Team traveled to the University of Tennessee to compete in the 2006 Hillbilly Classic. The Irish were seeded in a bracket with regional foe Miami (OH) and the host Volunteers. ND began Saturday with an easy victory over the latter, putting down the Vols 19-5. Freshman goalie Dave Mazur put in quite a performance for his Irish debut, and continued to do so all weekend. Almost every player on the Irish roster ended up on the scoresheet, as they used their speed and depth to blow away UT.

In their second game, Notre Dame found themselves in a hole early on against Miami (OH), down 4-0 at the start of the second quarter. However the Irish went on to outscore the Red Hawks 8-3 in the remaining quarters, as co-captain Patrick Connors, leading scorer on the weekend, slammed home the decisive goal with 11 seconds remaining in the game. Great defense by fellow co-captain Jon Kelly on Miami’s leading scorer, Ross Pilkin, was the real catalyst for the team, as Miami were constantly frustrated on offense.

That win sent ND into the semifinals to face Purdue. The Irish came out firing, as sophomore Tom Fletcher and freshman Craig Bentzen both had great games, scoring goals and drawing kickouts on the Boilermaker defenders. Purdue, however, did not go down quietly, as they fought back to tie the game at 10 apiece. Despite several chances for both teams to score the final goal, the end of regulation found the teams still deadlocked. Due to goal differential, the Irish were given the right to go to the final on Sunday afternoon to face their archrival, the Lakers of Grand Valley State University.

In the final, the Irish came out flat, and Grand Valley took full advantage. ND fell into a 6-2 hole by the end of the first quarter, and were never able to put themselves back into the game, falling by a final of 14-8 to the defending National Champions. Senior co-captain Stephen Shepard put away 4 goals against the Lakers, while Bentzen continued to impress in his debut appearance. Sophomore Avery Ambrose scored perhaps the goal of the tournament in this game, faking out three Grand Valley defenders and their goalkeeper, and deftly lobbing the ball into the net from a very tight angle. Sophomore Pete Devine, making his first couple starts for the Irish, also played very well, along with Kelly defending with tenacity and causing problems for ND’s opponents. The Irish travel to Dayton next month for a rematch with GVSU and their other conference foes.