November has arrived, and EA Day is quickly approaching. For the water polo team, the focus has remained on looking ahead rather than dwelling on past setbacks. Every practice and every game brings the Fords one step closer to their biggest goal: defeating Episcopal Academy. This year, they’ll have to do it on enemy territory, as the matchup takes place at Episcopal.
Before EA Day, however, the polo team has been working hard toward its last big tournament of the year: Easterns.
The team’s last two tournaments were up and down. They started strong, winning the first three games at the Philmore Cup in Baltimore before fizzling out the next day, losing the next two games to finish 3-2.
Beast of the East brought similar results, but in opposite fashion. The team also went 3-2 but finished in flight-three of the tournament after a disappointing day-one loss to Perkiomen Valley. They rebounded by winning the next three games, but lost in the championship.
With the loss of key Sixth Former Henry McDade to injury, the team has struggled in some games on offense, especially creating shots and scoring off them.
Fourth Former goalie Bryan Lentz has risen to the occasion many times throughout the year in the absence of Sixth Form goalie Mookie Dombar.
“I’m just thinking about how to improve by myself. As a team, we have struggled with scoring, which means that I have a lot of responsibility,” Lentz said.
While the offense has needed work, the team has excelled on defense, consistently keeping teams to low scores. With EA Day looming, different players prepare in different ways.
“I think if we just value the ball and put good shots on cage, I think we will be okay. We just have to go into Easterns and EA Day with confidence,” Lentz said.
Even with the inconsistency seen this year, the team seems to share one belief heading into the season finale: confidence.
“If we have confidence, we will dominate, and I know we will,” Lentz said.
After some key Sixth Formers left before the season started, many younger players have had to step up and perform for the Fords.
“We have prepared by focusing on practice and working together as a team. We have also been doing competitions that bring out our grit and make us a stronger team,” Fourth Former Liam Jones said.
Over the past few weeks, the team specifically focused on pushing themselves to their limits and bonding.
“Looking ahead, we have worked really hard and have been waiting for this last stretch all season,” Jones said.
“Right now, we are much stronger than we were at the beginning of the season, and we are ready to win EA Day.”
Liam Jones ’29
With this attitude and determination, the team believes it can deliver on EA Day.
“Right now, we are much stronger than we were at the beginning of the season, and we are ready to win EA Day,” Jones said.
This season, Episcopal has been disappointing, but the last meeting between the two teams ended in a nail-biting Churchmen victory. As the season comes to a close, the Fords can share the Inter-Ac title with Malvern if they defeat Episcopal.
Through all the transition and adversity the polo team has gone through, they believe in themselves more than anyone else, the best attitude a team can have going into the big game.