This week the Varsity Boys Water Polo Team closed out their District schedule with a big matchup against the Strake Jesuit Crusaders on Wednesday and honored their Seniors on Friday night with a game against Klein Collins.

vs. Strake Jesuit

After a long weather delay due to lightning, the Wednesday game started off on the wrong foot, continuing a trend that had been going on for two weeks. The Spartans had two quick turnovers, and the Crusaders capitalized on the second one to get on the board first. The defense would then stiffen up and hold Strake scoreless for over 3 minutes with Andy Zhuri making 2 great saves. Unfortunately, the Spartan offense would struggle during this time,  missing 3 very makeable shots. The Crusaders would finally get their second goal on a point-blank counter to take a 2-0 lead with 2:29 to go in the quarter. Less than a minute later, the Spartans would get on the board when Josh Rebollar put home a goal off a great assist from Luke Barber. The defense would then have two mental lapses in the final minute of play that allowed Strake to take a 4-1 lead at the end of the 1st quarter. With all of the momentum clearly on Strake's side and the missed early opportunities looming large, it felt like the Spartans might be in for a long night.

The boys however came playing hard and got their second goal less than 30 seconds into the 2nd quarter when Luke Barber fired one home from the set position. From there the boys fought hard and hung tough with a really good team. The Crusaders would grind out 3 hard-fought goals and close out the half with a 7-2 lead.

The 3rd quarter was a real defensive battle with the teams each scoring two goals. The Crusaders struck first, but the Spartans then answered with goals from Luke Barber and Marin Pavlin before Strake answered with a late goal to take a 9-4 lead into the final quarter.

In the past, the Spartans have struggled when trailing by more than one goal heading into the 4th quarter, but today they continued to play hard and actually had what may have been their best quarter of the year with Nathan Moss leading the way. Nathan was flying all around the pool on offense and defense and broke free for a nice counter goal 2 minutes into the period. Strake would answer just over a minute later, but the Spartans would answer 24 seconds after the Strake goal when Devon Beals scored off a nice assist from Josh Rebollar, and then the Spartans struck again 23 seconds later to pull within 3 goals at 10-7, which left the Spartan faithful wondering what might have been if we had played a little better in the first quarter. Strake would add one last goal late to finish off their 11-7 victory, but they left the pool knowing that the Spartans can definitely compete with them and that we will be a formidable opponent should we both meet up again down the road in the State Playoffs. This loss definitely showed that this Spartan team has the talent and ability to compete with the best teams in the State and that they may have a magical State run in them.

vs. Klein Collins

Following the emotional loss to Strake Jesuit, the team came back home to the SBISD Natatorium on Friday to honor their Senior Class for both the boys' and girls' squads. Captains Luke Barber and Andy Zhuri and teammates Lucas Storey, Josh Rebollar, Austin Chao, and Ben Bednar were all acknowledged and appreciated for their contributions. Members of this Senior Class have played on each of the past 4 State playoff-bound teams and have really helped Stratford to usher in the start of the UIL Water Polo competition in great style. They are also key contributors to this year’s team and will be greatly missed next year.

Of course there is still some unfinished business left this year with the State playoffs starting on 10/9 or 10/10 (more on that in a minute). After the Senior Night acknowledgements, the boys got in the water to take on Klein Collins with all the Seniors in the starting lineup. The Spartans would pick up where they left off in the Strake game with a really well-balanced attack and tenacious defense. Senior Austin Chao got the boys on the board first less than a minute into the game, and the boys would continue to score early and often in this one. Luke Barber would add 2 goals in the first quarter and Josh Rebollar, Ricky Conticello, and Marin Pavlin would also find the back of the net as the Spartans took a commanding 6-2 lead after one quarter.

The Conticello goal was set up by an incredible lob pass from Nathan Moss that Ricky pulled out of the air and shoved in the net to get the crowd fired up. It would be all Stratford the rest of the way as well. Andy Zhuri had another great night in goal turning away shot after shot while the offense continued to roll. Senior Josh Rebollar and junior Nathan Moss would contribute second period goals as the Spartans rolled to an 8-3 halftime lead.

The second half would see a lot of underclassmen get significant minutes, while Nathan Moss added two more goals and Marin Pavlin recorded his second goal of the game. The Spartans would end up sending the Seniors' regular season off with an 11-5 victory.

Next up for the Spartans will be the State Playoffs. We finished in a tie with Memorial for second place, but because the Mustangs are afraid to play us again, a coin flip on Tuesday will decide which team gets the second seed for the District, so stay tuned for the playoff schedule. The boys certainly seem to be peaking at the right time, so a magical playoff run could be in store.