Georgia Tech Water Polo

This past January, the GT Water Polo team wished a fond farewell to its head coach, Kasi David.  Kasi had served as head coach for the previous two years, but has long been a part of Tech Water Polo. Kasi started playing with the team during his graduate school training, and soon assumed the position of assistant coach, under Manny Torres, before taking the reins as head coach. In each of those roles, Kasi has continuously propelled the strong water polo tradition at Georgia Tech, as well as the greater Georgia community. In his final season, the team retook the Southeast Division Championship and hosted the Club Collegiate Water Polo National Tournament. The recent successes of the team, and GT Water Polo’s consistent strength and organization, are in large part due to the dedication and drive of Kasi David.

The weekend of January 28 and January 29 the Georgia Tech club water polo team competed in the Knights Open.  The tournament was held in Orlando, Florida and was the first tournament where the team was coached by Brian ‘Benny’ Twynham.  Benny is replacing Kasi David as the coach of the Georgia Tech Water Polo Team.  We said good-bye to Kasi earlier that week when he moved to Cleveland, Ohio.  Kasi was also at the Knights Open Tournament alongside the team.  We played two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday before returning to Atlanta.  Everybody on the team got significant playing time and was able to enjoy playing outside in the beautiful Orlando weather.

In the first game, we started slow but were able to regain our composure and finish the game against a weaker team.  Second year Ilya Kovalenko lead the team in offense with 3 goals.  Christo Carscallen also contributed with 2 goals.  Veteran player, Steve Larson scored twice in the game.  In his first game since taking a semester off, Charlie Waesche had an outstanding performance and showed that he has not missed a beat.  He fit well into the starting line up and gelled well with all of the players.  Both Neal Laxpati and Michael O’rourke played remarkably well in this game helping us hold our opponent to only 6 goals.

The second game was a real nail-biter.  It was a very exciting game watch and to play in: final score being 12-11.  The offense was evenly distributed among six different players.  We were down by 3 goals with about 2 minutes left in play.  We surmounted this deficit with a string of goals from Mohammed Nasr, Evan Zinner, and Ilya Kovalenko.  Ilya’s game tying goal was scored with 1:03 left in the game while we were on a 2-man-up advantage.  Then with time expiring, a full pool shot was taken by the other team.  A accidental mistake led to penalty shot in front of a boisterous crowd.  Michael O’Rourke got a finger on the shot, but was not able to keep out the game winning shot from the OUHH’s best player.

Our third game was against a very powerful and experienced UCF Master’s team.  We were outmatched from the beginning.  The other team took advantage of our sloppy play and gained an insurmountable lead by half time.  Our goalies Neal Laxpati and Michael O’rourke despite playing well were not able to keep out all of the counterattacks and wide open shots.  A very notable effort was made by Mohammad Nasr.  This was Mohammad’s first tournament since returning from a co-op in Athens, Georgia.  Moe was one of the few starters that actually played well in this game and was rewarded for his efforts by scoring a goal.

In our fourth and final game we played significantly better than we had in the third.  Our new coach Bryan Twynham rallied us before the game, which definitely improved our play.  This was a pretty close game, but eventually we lost 9-4.

CWPA, the Collegiate Water Polo Association, recently announced the All-Americans from this past year.  There were a total of 68 standout players chosen.  Among those chosen is our very own Steve Winton.  Steve was given Honorable Mention.  Steve was an integral part of our team this season, leading the team in scoring despite only playing in five of our ten regular season games.  He also led our team as Captain.

http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.org/news/2011-12/0128122011MenClubAllAmerica

Congratulation to our All-Conference Members! Steven Winton won the Most Valuable Player award for the Southeast Division this year and was placed on the first all conference team alongside Steve Larson. Neal Laxpati and Nicholas Thompson obtained second-team all conference honors.

Winton

Over the course of the season, Winton tallied 28 goals, including 9 in the CWPA Nationals tournament. Winton was the leading scorer for the Yellow Jackets, both during the regular season and the Nationals tournament. His 19 Southeast Conference goals came in only two out of three tournaments (5 games)! Winton saved his best moments for the final SEC tournament. In the semifinals, Winton scored 5 goals as Georgia Tech came back to win against a very tough Vanderbilt team. He outdid himself in the finals, though, and scored 8 goals to lead the Ramblin’ Wreck to a 16-9 victory against a great Emory team!  Winton, who served as the captain this year, will be back to defend his MVP award next fall. He will also look to gain some weight during the off-season.

Larson

Our other returning senior, Steve Larson was also placed on the first team all conference team. Larson scored 14 goals, including 2 at the CWPA Nationals Tournament. His best game offensively came against Vanderbilt at the beginning of the semester. Larson stepped up and scored 3 goals against Vandy at a time when Tech was missing a couple of key starters! His contributions were just as visible on the defensive side of the game. Larson took it upon himself to match up against some of the opposing teams’ best players and was one of our team’s most valuable assets. His defensive skills were shown off at the CWPA Nationals tournament as he kept some of the best college club players in the country from scoring for extended periods of time! Unfortunately, Larson’s water-polo abilities don’t translate onto the racquetball court.

Laxpati

In addition to the two first team members, the Ramblin’ Wreck placed two more people to the second team. Goalie Neal Laxpati stopped 57 shots this year, only allowing 38 goals (60% save percentage).  Splitting time with our other stellar goalie, Michael O’Rourke, Laxpati distinguished himself both during the SEC regular season and the following Nationals tournament. His highlights included a combined 92% save percentage  against Clemson (2 games) and a total of 11 stopped shots against a very determined UNC team in the CWPA Nationals tournament. In addition to his goalie prowess, Laxpati added a goal to his resume when his 30m shot found the back of the net against a very good Vanderbilt goalie! Neal is coming back next year as our team has realized that he is a real “keeper.”

Thompson

Joining Laxpati on the second team is our dangerous lefty, Nicholas Thompson. Thompson scored 17 goals in all competitions, including 6 at the CWPA Nationals tournament. Thompson, who came to Tech with no water polo experience, stepped up to cement his role in the starting line-up and, now, in the second all-conference team! Thompson chipped in at least a goal in almost every SEC game he played in, but his most memorable performance came at the CWPA Nationals tournament. Thompson tallied 3 very important goals to lead the Yellow Jackets against Emory in our last game of the season as we defeated the Eagles 10-6 to end the season on a high note! Unfortunately, Thompson won’t be here for our next spring and fall seasons as he has taken a co-op with GE Aviation and our team will struggle to replace his efforts in and out of the pool.

Congratulation to all our award winning student-athletes!

For full team statistics visit:  2011 Water Polo Stats.

For more information about the All-Conference teams visit: CWPA Men’s Club All-Conference.

At the end of this semester, GT Water Polo graduates one of its most seasoned players in the form of Taylor Weiss. Taylor, a mechanical engineering major from Los Altos, CA, has been a fixture of the Georgia Tech team for many seasons. With a reputation for solid defense coupled with excellent game sense, Taylor has greatly contributed to the success of the GT program over the last five years, particularly during our fall campaigns in the CWPA southeast division. Younger players point to the many instances during practice in which Taylor willingly reached out to share his skills and knowledge in the pool. It is this combination of game-time knowledge and knack for teaching in the pool that will be sorely missed when he graduates at the end of the fall semester. We wish him good luck and much success in the future!!

We’ve updated our 2011 CWPA Results page with the games from Nationals, and in doing so have added over 400 photos from the tournament. If you were unable to come in person or view the games online, we hope this will help you recap all the action and excitement that Nationals brings. In the coming days we look to further update our team statistics as well.

Don’t think Georgia Tech Water Polo is done for the year, however. The Spring is our main training season, and with the entire 2011 team slated to come back next year, you can bet we’re going to be working hard to get back to Nationals, and really show them what we’re capable of. In addition, there are a number of open tournaments we’ll be attending, and plenty of faces on the team, new and old, we have yet to introduce you to. So stay tuned for all that Georgia Tech Water Polo is about to do!

Georgia Tech hosted the national club college championships this weekend to conclude its fall season. Seeded 13th, the Yellow Jackets had to face a tough and quick University of Florida team. Never being down by more than 4 during the first 3 quarters, the Jackets hung tough. Unfortunately, UF (who eventually placed 3rd) pulled away from our team in the last period and won 14-8. Steve Winton had a great game and managed to score 3 goals. Helping out offensively were Nicholas Thompson with two scores and Evan Zinner, Taylor Weiss, David Shelton with one goal each.

After losing the first game to UF, the Yellow Jackets had to come back the same evening to play the UNC Tar Heels. The Tar Heels had also lost their first game and both teams went all out to win their second game. UNC caught GT starting slowly and led 2-0 in the first couple of minutes. That was one of the biggest leads of the night as Tech came back with 3 goals of their own. That began a see-saw battle, with neither team able to pull away. Thus, after a daunting three and a half quarters of back-and-forth water polo, the game was tied up at 8-8. Unfortunately, UNC took advantage of a man-up opportunity to take the lead. Tech fought back and had a couple chances to tie the game, but the Tar Heels added another goal to cement their lead. The game ended with a 10-8 Yellow Jackets loss. Captain Steven Winton led all scorers with 4 goals. Steve Larson, Patrick Slane, Thompson, and Zinner added a goal each. Neal Laxpati also had a great game with 11 saves.

After the heartbreaking loss, GT had one more game in the tournament. Coming back to the pool on Saturday evening, Tech matched up against a familiar opponent from the Southeast Division, Emory University. GT had beaten the Southeast Division Runner-Up Emory twice during the regular season, but both games had been close and well-played. Both teams were coming back from tough losses as Emory had just lost 12-11 to a good Oregon team. This was the last game of the tournament and the last game of the season for Emory and GT. Emory showed that they shouldn’t be taken lightly and went up 1-0 on a first quarter penalty shot. The Ramblin’ Wreck didn’t give in and chipped in 5 straight goals to lead 5-1 at half-time. Emory refused to give up and managed to tie the game at 5-5 at the start of the third half, before Tech pulled away for a 10-6 win. The most notable effort was from Nicholas Thompson, who scored 3 goals and was named Player of the Game! Contributing offensively were Slane, Winton, and Zinner who had 2 goals each and Larson, who chipped in a single score. Michael O’Rourke played an outstanding game, recorded 10 saves, and made several key stops at the end.

The Georgia Tech Water Polo club finished with a great 12-2 record this fall. We still have practice this semester at our regular times, but our tournament season is over. We will have many more tournaments in the spring as we continue to build our young squad. Thank you for all the support!

To view the full summaries provided by the CWPA, visit these links:

GT – UF, 8-14: http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.com/news/2011-12/2011MenNCCC/2011MenNCCCClubGame4

GT – UNC, 8-10: http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.com/news/2011-12/2011MenNCCC/2011MenNCCCClubGame9

GT- Emory, 10-6: http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.com/news/2011-12/2011MenNCCC/2011MenNCCCClubGame23

Official pictures from the tournament can be found here: http://collegiatewaterpolo.ifp3.com/site/

The CWPA has announced the details for the 2011 Men’s National Club Championship at Georgia Tech this weekend:

16 teams will take to the pool, but only one will leave with the title of National Champion as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) will host the 2011 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, Georgia on November 11-13.

Featuring champions from 15 of the league’s divisions (Atlantic, Big Ten, Florida, Great Lakes, Great Plains, Mid-Atlantic, Missouri Valley, New England, New York, Northwest, Pacific Coast, Rocky Mountain, Sierra Pacific, Southeast, Texas), along the Southeast Division runner-up Emory University, the tournament features 30-games over three days to decide which collegiate club program is the best in the nation.

Competing division championship teams include: University of Southern California (Pacific Coast), Texas Tech University (Texas),University of Michigan (Big Ten), University of Florida (Florida), Arizona State University (Rocky Mountain), St. Louis University (Missouri Valley), Yale University (New England), University of Oregon (Northwest), University of California-Santa Cruz (Sierra Pacific), Villanova University (Mid-Atlantic), University of Illinois-Chicago (Great Lakes), University of North Carolina (Atlantic), Georgia Tech (Southeast/Host), Columbia University (New York) and Illinois State University (Great Plains).  Emory makes the field at No. 16 due to Georgia Tech capturing the Southeast title and holding the No. 13 position in the tournament.

A complete schedule for the tournament is available by CLICKING HERE, and features links to directions to Georgia Tech’s campus.

For this that will be in the Greater Atlanta area over the weekend, ticket prices for the tournament are:

• General Admission: $25 Weekend Pass, $13 Day Pass
• Georgia Tech Students & Staff: $12 Weekend Pass

In addition, for fans unable to attend the championship, the CWPA will once again offer live-streaming of all 30-games through the league’s partnership with Stretch Internet.  The cost for a weekend pass to watch the entire tournament is $25, while individual contests can be purchased at a cost $10/game.  Fans can access the streaming page directly by CLICKING HERE, or by visiting the Multimedia Link on the front page of the CWPA website.

In addition, the CWPA has highlighted Georgia Tech’s Fight Song as the first of the many fight songs of the schools participating in the National Men’s Collegiate Club Championships.

Only three days until Nationals begins! We hope to see you there!

Thanks to our families and fans, we’ve acquired even more photos from the Southeast Division Championship Tournament. Relive all the action and our victory in our gallery!

We wish you could have all been with us during the Southeast Division Championship Tournament, but thanks to some enterprising parents, we have the next best thing; photos from the Southeast Division Championships up on the website! We’ve updated the 2011 CWPA Results Page as well. Check out all of the action, and the team posing with our hard-won victory plaque!

Remember, Nationals is being hosted by Georgia Tech in just a few weeks, so get your travel plans together to see us take on 4th Seed University of Florida, and some of the best club teams in the Nation!