Results - Men's Water Polo

March 28-29, 2008

This weekend the Men’s Water Polo team hosted their annual Alumni Tournament at Rolfs Aquatics, with Purdue, Mercyhurst, Monmouth, and the Notre Dame Alumni team. In addition, a Notre Dame B squad participated as well, comprised mostly of the club’s large freshmen class.

In the Irish first game against Monmouth on Saturday morning, the club came out strong to take a quick 4-0 nothing lead in the first quarter with junior Patrick Connors scoring two goals, and senior Colin Dunn and freshman Matt Fordonski scoring one each. The Irish continued to light up the goal in the second quarter as well, thanks to two goals by junior Avery Ambrose, one by senior Josh Raycroft, and one by sophomore Luke DePasquale. Senior Jon Kelly posted a shutout in goal in the first half. The second half was much of the same and the Irish were able to rotate many players in the pool, finishing out strong with a 15-3 victory. Second half goals by juniors Devin Fee and Joel Theilen as well as sophomores Paul Colianni and Alex Wheeler.

In their second game, the Irish faced a much tougher opponent in Mercyhurst, a division II varsity team with several All-American players. However, the Irish still came out fired up and managed to hit the back of the net 5 times in the first half with Fordonski and Dunn each scoring twice and senior Zhan-Wei Khaw once to forge a 5-5 at the half. Goalie Short had an excellent game, blocking many great shots by Mercyhurst including a 5 meter penalty shot. Unfortunately, however, the Irish were unable to keep up the pace in the second half and began to seriously tire in the third quarter. Mercyhurst pulled quickly pulled ahead by five goals and the Irish were only able to respond with one by Connors. The game slowed in the fourth quarter as Mercyhurst scored two more unanswered goals for a 12-6 victory.

The last game of the day for the Irish A team was against the ND Alumni team. The two teams kept the score neck and neck for the entire game, with the Alumni ahead 6-5 at the quarter. The Irish, however, managed to take the lead in the third quarter and although the Alumni continued to keep things close, the Irish held on for an 11-10 victory. The goals on the (young) Irish side were fairly evenly distributed with Dunn scoring three, Kelly two, Fordonski two, and Ambrose, Theilen, Connors, and Khaw all scoring one.

The final game of the weekend against Purdue also turned out to be very close. Connors lit up the goal in the first quarter, scoring three right off the bat with Dunn adding one to make it 4-1 the end of the quarter. Purdue bounced back in the third quarter to tie it up, and the two teams battled it out in the fourth with Connors, Dunn, and Fordonski scoring one goal each, and Purdue answering with an additional three goals to knot the score at 7-7. The game ended in a shootout as goalie Jon Kelly performed spectacularly for the Irish, blocking three Purdue shots. Damian Sharratt, Sebastian Andres-Testero, and Fordonski all scored in the shootout for the Irish victory, 10-9.

March 21-22, 2008

The 21st ranked Notre Dame men’s volleyball team ventured west over the weekend for the annual Las Vegas Open. The Irish were competing in what is perennially the most competitive tournament in the nation.

To open the tournament, the Irish were placed in a pool pitting them against three previously unseen teams. The first match was against the eventual second place finisher, University of California Davis. The Irish came out strong, taking an early lead against the Aggies. A mid-game lapse, however, whittled away the advantage and gave Davis momentum that proved to be too much for the Irish to overcome as Davis won, 17-25. The loss did not deter Notre Dame, who broke out to an early lead again. Despite the hecklers in the crowd, outside hitter Dan Zibton continued to carry the Irish through the game’s entirety. Notre Dame won the second, 25-23, and forced a third game. Unfortunately, the Irish were unable to close the match out and fell 9-15 in the final set.

Next, the Irish faced #6 and eventual third place finisher Utah Valley State. The Irish’ passing, led by senior John Tibble, but the monstrous block of Wolverines. Notre Dame kept the match close, but were unable to pull it out as Utah Valley took the match in straight sets.

The final match of the pool was against Cal State San Marcos. A seemingly ragtag team with mismatched jerseys, San Marcos appeared to be an easy win. The Irish needed a victory to keep their tournament hopes alive, but San Marcos proved that one should never judge a book by its cover. The Cougars took the Irish down in straight sets and gave the Irish a last place finish in their pool. Following the match, scandal broke out. The tournament director informed the teams that San Marcos had professional beach players not attending the school on the team. After the news broke, there was civilized banter and minimal throwing of objects. The consequence was a disqualification of San Marcos, and a win for the Irish.

With a respectable finish still within reach, Notre Dame refocused for the second day. The Irish opened the double-elimination bracket against rival #22 Michigan State. Despite being struck by food poisoning, sophomore Mike Nejedly was unreal at the net, getting a kill on every set that came his way. The Irish stormed past the Spartans in the first game, 25-19. Michigan state, following an early yellow card for arguing with the ref, regrouped and came right back at Notre Dame. Strong serving by Jesse Lewis kept the game within reach, but the Irish were incapable of coming out with a victory. The Spartans forced a third a crucial game for the Irish. Notre Dame burst out to an early 9-4 lead. The deficit was too much for the Spartans to overcome and the Irish continued on.

In the second round, the Irish faced #17 Texas A&M. The Aggies were no match for the Irish, as Notre Dame blew by the Aggies in straight sets, 25-15 and 25-21. For the right to go to the bracket championship, the Irish then faced the varsity squad from Holy Names University. Strong right side attacking by senior Tim Goldsmith controlled the tempo of the match, allowing the Irish to build comfortable leads throughout. The Hawks were able to steal the second game, but the Irish promptly won the third and advanced.

In the bracket’s championship, the Irish found themselves against #11 Central Florida. Notre Dame created large leads in both games behind the unstoppable hitting of freshman Mark Iandolo. Strong serving by the Knights broke down the Irish offense, however, allowing UCF to crawl back into both sets and eventually take both games. The Irish lost the match in straight sets, but finished the weekend with high aspirations in the weeks leading up to nationals.  

November 2-4, 2007

Notre Dame finished runner-up in the Great Lakes Conference Championships to Grand Valley to close the regular season. Grand Valley has been ranked nationally among the top teams all year, and has won the national championship or finished second the past several years.

The Irish won the first game, 15-6 over Ball State. Junior Tom Fletcher scored three quick goals from the two meter position, while classmate Pat Connors scored on a pair of breakaways. Building a quick lead, the squad rotated in many players the rest of the game. Seniors Paul Colianni and Josh Raycroft scored two goals each, while junior Avery Ambrose rifled home two goals from the perimeter.

A vastly improved Ohio squad fought back from an early deficit as the Irish narrowly prevailed, 8-7. Fletcher and Connors again led the scoring at the onset and the Irish need a power play goal from Colin Dunn and two goals scored on drives by Damian Sharrat to secure the win.

Connors ripped the back of the net with three breakaway goals early in game three and Ambrose scored on a lob shot as the Irish again built a lead and held off Dayton, 9-6. After the Flyers had moved to within two goals, Sharatt and Dunn both scored on set plays to set up the final pairing with Grand Valley.

The Irish made a game of it early against the Lakers, as Sharratt, Ambrose, and Connors all scored in the first period from the Irish set offense. However, the Lakers adjusted defensively and successfully counterattacked to race to a seven goal lead at the half. Jon Kelly and Fletcher scored in the third period, but the Irish dropped the championship, 16-5.  

October 5-7, 2007

Notre Dame’s men’s water polo club won three of four contests in this weekend’s conference qualifiers round robin. In the first game, the Irish started strong as junior captain Pat Connors, senior Colin Dunn and freshman Matt Fordonski each found the back of the net twice. A sluggish second half allowed Ohio to consistently score from the perimeter, but the Irish maintained a two goal lead throughout, closing the game at 10-8.

Freshman goalie Henry Short was strong in goal the first period, permitting only one goal to Grand Valle State. The defending national champions scored with several counter attacks in the second period to take a 5-0 lead into the half. Fordonski scored for the Irish to open the second half, but the Lakers wore down the Irish with counter attacks and won going away, 15-3.

The Irish rebounded quickly, taking a 4-0 lead over Chicago in the first quarter of game three, and again held on with see saw play in a 13-9 win. Senior Josh Raycroft, Dunn, Connors, Junior Avery Ambrose, Fordonski, and freshman Nick Normandin registered goals.

Coming out strong was complemented with a strong effort throughout as the Irish defeated Ball State in the finale, 17-5. Raycroft, Dunn, and Zhan Wei-Khaw each scored multiple goals in the first half, while Short posted a first half shutout in goal. Sean Rooney, Mark Robertshaw, and Normandin scored in the second half as the Irish cruised to the win.

November 17-19, 2006

The eleventh ranked Notre Dame Men’s Water Polo Team trounced Columbia University 14-5, and secured a 13th place finish, tying their previous best, at the CWPA National Club Championships this past weekend at Miami (OH) University. Captains Patrick Connors and Stephen Shepard led the Irish with 5 and 4 goals respectively. freshman Sean Rooney, sophomores Avery Ambrose and Tom Fletcher, and junior Colin Dunn also scored in the game. The Irish finished the weekend 1-2, as their two losses came to the eventual National Champions, #1 Michigan State, and #7 Slippery Rock.

The first round match-up against the Spartans saw both teams produce bursts of offense throughout, as Connors put the Irish up first less than a minute and a half into the contest. The Spartans then caught fire, scoring five unanswered goals to go up 5-1 with 4 minutes remaining in the second quarter. However, scores from Fletcher, freshman Craig Bentzen, and Connors put the Irish right back in it, making it a 5-4 game at halftime. Unfortunately, the Irish failed to contain National Player of the Year Jon Haga in the second half, and a late 3rd quarter run by MSU put the game out of reach. Shepard, Dunn, Fletcher, and Connors tallied for ND in the second half, as the final score read 12-8.

That same evening, the Irish came back to play #7 Slippery Rock University, a former varsity program that became club this past year. Despite superb defense by captain Jon Kelly and Dunn, the Irish continuously missed opportunities on 6-on-5’s and outside shots. Freshman goalie Dave Mazur was strong in goal making six saves, as the Irish offense never seemed to get going, allowing the SRU defense to relax and settle in. Fletcher led the Irish with two goals, as Connors, Kelly, and Shepard each had individual tallies in the game.

While the overall result wasn’t what they had hoped for, the team can take solace in the fact that in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, after losing five starters, they became only the third Irish Men’s team to make it to Nationals, and are looking forward to next year, as senior captain Stephen Shepard will be the only loss from the starting seven.  

October 13-22, 2006

Irish Take Second, Qualify for Nationals

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. See the website www.nd.edu/~wpolo for more details.  

September 28-30, 2006

This past weekend at the Miami (OH) Memorial Invitational, the #12 Notre Dame Men’s Water Polo Team found themselves placed in a bracket with fierce rival #14 Miami (OH) and #20 Indiana University, while also missing starters Jon Kelly and Khaw Zhan Wei. The Irish first faced off with the hosting Red Hawks on Friday night, in front of roughly 300 screaming Miami fans. However, Notre Dame promptly discounted any home field advantage by jumping out to a 4-2 lead, which they kept extending throughout the game. Led by sophomore captain Patrick Connors’ 4 goals, and great hole-set play by Tom Fletcher and Colin Dunn, the Irish entered the 4th quarter leading 8-4. However, with four minutes left, the Red Hawks began to mount a furious comeback, bringing the lead down to one with less than a minute to play. With :38 remaining, the Miami hole-set drew an ejection foul to give them a twenty second man-advantage. But the Irish defense, led by goalkeeper Dave Mazur, did not budge this time, and held on to secure a spectacular 8-7 victory. Seniors George Heidkamp and captain Steve Shepard also tallied goals for the Irish.

Saturday morning, Notre Dame played their other bracket foe, the Hoosiers of IU. At the beginning of the game it was all Irish, as Shepard and Connors put away a couple quick goals each to get the team rolling. Coming out of halftime with a two goal lead, Notre Dame looked set to cruise into the semifinals. The Irish did cruise, and IU took complete advantage, bringing intensity and desire to the second half. A two goal advantage quickly turned into a three goal deficit, and the Irish never got back into the game. A combination of bad bounces for the Irish and some very lucky goals for Indiana also didn’t help Notre Dame’s cause, as the team went down 12-8.

After a forfeit by Ohio State, Notre Dame was drawn into the ninth place game with Lindenwood University. Despite some great outside shooting by Shepard and a good performance by freshman hole-set Craig Bentzen, the Irish were never able to gain more than a two goal advantage over Lindenwood. This would later haunt the Irish, as some costly mistakes in the 4th quarter led to a 10-9 defeat for ND. The Irish were unlucky once again in this one, but will look to gain some revenge on these teams two weeks from now at the Hoosier Invitational in Bloomington. 

September 22-24, 2006

This past weekend, the Men’s Water Polo Team traveled to the University of Dayton for CWPA Great Lakes Conference play. On Saturday, the #12 nationally-ranked Irish first squared off against new conference member Ohio University. In a very physical, penalty-filled match, the Irish pulled away in the closing minutes, downing the Bobcats 10-7. Senior captain Jon Kelly inspired the team with a very hard-fought, intimidating defensive performance. Captain Patrick Connors led the Irish in scoring with three goals, while captain Stephen Shepard, junior Colin Dunn, and sophomore Tom Fletcher also contributed goals for ND.

The afternoon game featured the Irish against their archrivals, defending national champion and 2nd ranked Grand Valley State, in the battle of the top two seeds. The Lakers jumped to an early advantage, capitalizing on some Irish miscues and carried a 3-2 lead into the second quarter. However, thanks to the long range shooting of Shepard and great movement by junior Khaw Zhan Wei, Notre Dame jumped in front 5-4 by the middle of the second. During this stretch, goalkeeper Dave Mazur pulled off some outstanding saves to keep the Irish moving ahead.

Unfortunately, turnovers and penalties were to be the team’s ultimate undoing, as some key second half mistakes led to the Irish falling behind, and never really recovering, losing 14-8.

In the final match of the evening, the Irish faced Ball State. In a game in which the Irish displayed the full extent of their depth, the men pulverized the Cardinals, winning 18-6. Sophomores Devin Fee, Joel Thielen, and Mike Mashura all played well in stepping up to fill the starters’ roles, by scoring and leading the Irish counterattack.

On Sunday, Notre Dame’s final match saw the club facing the host Flyers of Dayton. While the Irish got an early scare from a tenacious Dayton team playing in front of a home crowd, the Irish managed to dispose of the Flyers, 12-7. Freshman Craig Bentzen turned in a very dominant performance on the offensive end, netting several goals, while Dunn, Fletcher, Shepard, and Connors also tallied for the Irish. Mazur was solid once again, while senior George Heidkamp and freshman Sean Rooney came in and put in two great all-around efforts.

This upcoming weekend finds Notre Dame traveling to Miami (OH) for the Kyle McGarity Memorial Tourney, a twelve-team tournament in which nine of the teams are ranked nationally, including #1 Michigan State, #2 GVSU, #4 Arizona, and #10 Texas. The Irish are top-seeded in their bracket with #14 Miami (OH) and Indiana University.  

August 25-27, 2006

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.