Tonight v. Ladue

The Red Devils are taking on the Ladue Rams tonight at Chaminade. The JV game starts at 7:00 PM followed by the Varsity game at about 8:00 PM. To my knowledge, we will have everyone dressed for the game without any lingering absences to make up. It's nice to come off Spring Break with a full lineup and a clean slate. I expect we will be be pretty rusty and relatively out of shape, so there will be lots of substitutions.

I am not very familiar with this Ladue team. I coached two of their players in the offseason, Zach Varwig and Patrick Wall. Zach is a senior who has played for me for two years and even went to California with me last summer for the Junior Olympics. Zach is Ladue's primary 2M and will probably be the strongest kid in the pool tonight (apologies to Kevin Arnold). When he wants to, Zach can be a game-changer so Jack Benage, Danny Faust, Jake Entwistle and Chris Duncan will have to keep a close eye on him all night. There was a nice write-up about Zach in the Post, you can read it here.

This will most likely be the most competitive home game we have remaining. They will bring lots of fans, so should we. See you tonight.

Starters for Varsity:
#1 Blake Stabler
#2 Jack Benage (c)
#3 Michael Kubik
#5 Kevin Arnold (c)
#8 Danny Faust
#9 Peter Hoette
#11 Dan Fernandez

Spring Break Practice Schedule

Below is the Quasi-Optional practice schedule while Chamiande is on Spring Break. Quasi-Optional means that if you are in town, you need to be at practice. There will be one practice for JV and Varsity.

Thursday 3/20: 4:30 PM
Friday 3/21: 2:00 PM
Saturday 3/22: 9:00 AM
Monday 3/24: 2:00 PM
Tuesday 3/25: 4:30 PM
Wednesday 3/26: 4:30 PM
Thursday 3/27: 4:30 PM
Friday 3/28: 2:00 PM
Saturday 3/29: 9:00 AM

The First Week

As of 7:30AM this morning, we have had 720 hits to this site. It was launched 7 days ago, so that means over 100 hits per day during the first week. That is awesome and flattering. I would have been pleased with 15 hits per day. Thanks for reading (and I guess this means I have to keep it up).

SLUH 7 - Chaminade 2

That's an ugly score, but those who were at the game knew it was much closer. The Red Devils, missing Junior Danny Faust, Senior Kevin Rejko and Senior Captain Jack Benage, played their best defense of the year, and for 3 quarters kept the defending state champs within striking distance.

Things started off poorly as SLUH's Junior John Heafner, going to the deep end, scored on the first possession on a surprise shot from the wing. Chaminade responded by locking down defensively and protecting the ball and not letting SLUH counter-attack. 3 minutes into the 1st, CCP's Senior Captain Kevin Arnold tied the score when left open at the point. SLUH's Junior Michael O'Neill put SLUH up 2-1 on a broken play and that's how the score remained going into the 2nd quarter. Shooting in the shallow, SLUH's Junior Will Page scored his first of three goals to open up the scoring in the 2nd and was followed by a goal by CCP's Senior Michael Kubik. SLUH's Junior Trent Going ended the first half scoring on a cross-goal shot on 6-on-5.

Down 4-2 going into the second half, the Red Devils were confident that the defensive game plan was working and actually both teams battled hard for 7 minutes as neither a goal was scored nor a timeout was called. I'm not sure if SLUH subbed on the fly, but we only subbed out one player because everyone was playing so well defensively. In between quarters, I could tell that Coach Baudendistel was not happy, and that meant that we were doing something right and we had the momentum going into the 4th.

Unfortunatly, Chaminade could not get any offense going in the 4th quarter. SLUH's permimeter defense was stifling as our boys kept getting pinned against the wall, unable to move the ball. SLUH's Will Page and Senior Captain Tim Dale combined for three goals, two of which coming with less than two minutes remaining, to finish off Chaminade.

The most telling stat to me was the score when the teams were shooting deep. SLUH scored two goals in the deep and Chaminade scored one. I don't blame the SLUH players for using the bottom to gain position (and score a goal) because that is the product of referees not forcing the players to stay floating. And clearly, our boys used the bottom just as much to get steals and prevent goals and in some cases to shoot (just not as well). But I think it is interesting that the teams played VERY evenly when shooting in the deep.

It was a fun and emotional game for me. Not only was I coaching against my alma mater, but I was coaching against a group of kids that I had been coaching every offseason for the last three years. Although there was a sense of pride in the way SLUH played, I was proud of our guys more. As good as SLUH's Mike Sizemore played on defense, I say that CCP's Chris Duncan played the best game I ever saw him play and nothing makes me prouder. Make no mistake that I am a Chaminade guy now and I was there to beat them yesterday and I will be there to beat them next time. Can we be friends after the game? I think so.

Things that went right:

• Defense (counter attack)
• Defense (half court)
• Defense (2-meter)

Things that went not so right:

• Passing Under Pressure
• Winging Out Early On Counters
• Getting the ball down to the wing

Goals: Arnold - 1, Kubik - 1

Assists: Kubik - 1

Steals: Stabler - 3, Kubik - 2, Duncan - 2, Arnold - 1, Hoette - 1, Meara - 1, Watkins - 1

Kickouts: Entwistle - 1

Saves: Stabler - 17

Player of the Game: Stabler - 17 saves, 3 steals

Up Next: Monday, March 31st v. Ladue @ Chaminade. JV at 7:00 PM, Varsity after JV at approximately 8:00 PM.

Today v. SLUH

The Red Devils are taking on the SLUH Jr. Bills today at Forest Park Community College. The JV game starts at 4:15PM followed by the Varsity game at about 5:15PM. We will be short Seniors Jack Benage and Kevin Rejko who both missed last game and must sit this game as well and Junior Danny Faust who is sick today. This is a blow as these guys are great defenders who would really help defending SLUH's vicious counter-attack.

SLUH is without a doubt the best team in the area right now. They boast, in my opinion, the three best 2M's in the state: Senior Tim Dale, and Juniors John Heafner and Will Page. I would also argue that Senior Mike Sizemore, who went to grade school with our Kevin Arnold and Michael Kubik, and Junior Michael O'Neill are two of the best defenders in the state (although we got some boys who could challenge them for that title).

We have an interesting advantage over other teams when it comes to SLUH though. First of all, I went to SLUH and played under head coach Paul Baudendistel and played with JV coach John Penilla. Secondly, I coach Jungle Cats with Paul and John and have also coached every single player on SLUH's team. The advantage is that I know everyone there and I know the system (it's essentially the same system we run).

So if both teams know what system is being run and what the other team is trying to do, then the game will hinge upon execution. Whoever executes the system the best will certainly win the game. Unfortunately for Chaminade, we have been running the system for 4 weeks and SLUH has been running their system for 4 years (for the seniors). Should be an interesting game. I imagine a lot of learning will occur.

Starters for Varsity:
#1 Blake Stabler
#3 Michael Kubik
#5 Kevin Arnold (c)
#6 Jake Entwistle
#9 Peter Hoette
#12 Chris Watkins
#13 Chris Duncan

Chaminade 9 - Kirkwood 3

The first victory of the season came against a very tough Kirkwood team. It was a physical game and the referees were letting the boys maul each other. Cooler heads prevailed as the Red Devils worked hard, played aggressively, but also played fair. I'm proud to say that I saw no sign of any CCP players taking cheap shots or retaliating to offenses against them.

The game started off slowly as neither team could find the net for the first 5 minutes of the game until Michael Kubik broke free on a counter attack to net the first goal of the game. The Red Devils would tally three more goals, including a no-look hammer from Dan Fernandez, before Kirkwood scored their first goal 3 minutes into the 3rd quarter. Unfazed and bolstered by a staunch defense, Chaminade netted 3 more goals in the 3rd, highlighted by Kevin Arnold's tee shot. Going into the 4th quarter up 7-3, the boys locked down defensively and shut down Kirkwood's offense for good, netting two more goals of their own in the process.

In the absence of Senior Kevin Rejko and primary 2M defender and Captain Jack Benage, Danny Faust, Jake Entwistle and Chris Duncan picked up the 2M defending duties and allowed only one goal out of the set (a push-off in my opinion). I do believe that we have a very gifted and defensive-minded team and if we get our back-door problem fixed, we will have one of the stingiest and hardest to score upon defenses in the state.

Things that went right:

• Half Court Defense - for the second game in a row, the 2M defenders did a great job fronting the 2M and the perimeter guys did a great job staying in the passing lanes and not fouling the passer.
• Driving - especially the first series of drives during a possession. The boys work hard to get ball side and maintain their position.
• Shot Selection - I don't know what I said since the DeSmet game, but all shots came within 7M of the goal and in between the posts. It's easy to score 9 goals on 19 shots when you take high percentage shots.

Things that went not so right:

• Counter-Attack Defense
• 6-on-5 offense (stats were fine, execution was lacking)
• Resetting offense after first drives

Goals: Kubik - 4, Fernandez - 2, Meara - 2, Arnold, 1

Assists: Arnold - 1, Entwistle - 1, Faust - 1, Glauber - 1, Kubik - 1, Meara - 1, Stabler - 1

Steals: Stabler - 9, Kubik - 4, Watkins - 3, Glauber - 2, Faust - 1

Kickouts: Schwartz - 1

Saves: Stabler - 11

Player of the Game: Kubik - 4 goals, 1 assist, 4 steals and 1 "no retaliation" to a punch attempt by an opponent

Up Next: Tuesday March 18th v. SLUH @ Forest Park Community College. JV at 4:15Pm, Varsity after JV at approximately 5:15PM.

Kirkwood Game Moved to Chaminade

For whatever reason, we cannot play this afternoon's games at Meramec Community College. Instead we will move the games to Chaminade and play the JV game at 4Pm and the varsity game afterwards at about 5PM. I hope everyone that was planning on going to the game gets this message in time. See you at Chaminade.

Today v. Kirkwood

This afternoon we travel to Meramec Community College to battle with the Kirkwood Pioneers. The JV game starts at 4:15PM followed by the Varsity game at about 5:15PM. We will be missing Senior Captain Jack Benage this afternoon as he is interviewing for a college scholarship in Texas. Water polo is important, but sometimes you got to look at the bigger picture and I think missing this game for a chance to get a great scholarship to a great college is more important. We wish him luck and a safe return.

Kirkwood surprised a lot of people (not me) when they won the Founder's Cup tournament this week. They went thru a lot of tough teams, including Ladue and MICDS. I watched a couple of their games and Kirkwood is a big physical team with a lot of swimmers. A few of their players played for me this summer, including Senior goalie Matt Berry, who is highly underrated in my opinion. They got a lot of kids who can play and have a legitimate shot at being in the final four this year.

It's on their home turf, so we will need all the fan support we can get. See you at the game.

Starters for Varsity:
#1 Blake Stabler
#3 Michael Kubik
#8 Danny Faust
#9 Peter Hoette
#10 Max Schwartz
#12 Chris Watkins
#13 Chris Duncan

DeSmet 9 - Chaminade 6

In a fantastic first effort, your Chaminade Red Devils fell to the DeSmet Spartans 9-6. Chaminade's offense was slow in the first half netting only one goal and trailing the Spartans 4-1. Led by Jack Benage's 2 goals in the third quarter, CCP stormed back with 4 goals and closed DeSmet's 3 goal lead and trailed by one heading into the 4th Quarter. DeSmet's Matt Stiponovich netted two of his three goals in the 4th quarter to seal the victory.

Things that went right:

• Terrific Set Defense: we had 18 steals, led by Blake Stabler's 7. The boys committed to staying in the passing lanes, and not fouling on the perimeter. I can only count one DeSmet goal scored out of set offense, a backhand by JD Shrewsbury in the shallow during the first quarter.
• Winning the Ejection Game: the ejection scoreboard read 8-2 DeSmet, but like in golf, the lower number is better. The CCP boys kept their hips up on defense and committed to swimming around guys instead of over them. On offense, we fought for good position and were rewarded by the referees.
• Aggressiveness and Energy: we played really hard. Nobody took a play off and our deep bench was used a lot to give guys a rest. I'm very happy with the effort.

Things that went not so right:

• Counter-Attack Defense
• Patience on Offense
• Shot Selection

Again, a great first effort. We have some things to work on the next two days in practice to get us ready for next week, but playing well and coming up short should only fuel the fire.

Goals: Benage - 3, Kubik - 2, Meara - 1

Assists: Kubik - 4, Entwistle - 1, Faust - 1

Steals: Stabler - 7, Entwistle - 4, Watkins - 3, Kubik - 2, Meara - 2

Kickouts: Benage - 1, Entwistle - 1

Saves: Stabler - 8

Player of the Game: Benage - 3 goals and great 2M defense

Up Next: Monday March 17th v. Kirkwood @ Meramec Community College. JV at 4:15Pm, Varsity after JV at approximately 5:15PM.

Tonight v. DeSmet

Tonight the Red Devils open the 2008 season against the DeSmet Spartans at Chaminade. The varsity game starts at 7PM followed by the JV game at 8PM. This will be the only game all year where the varsity game comes first (their teddy bear of a JV coach, Doug Maitz, had a conflict and our benevolent JV coach Larry "Ex" Stream obliged).

People say that these are potentially two of the top four teams this year and could be a preview of the state semi-finals. I don't buy all of that, but I do know that we are very familiar with each other and are very evenly matched. If you enjoy competitive polo, this would be a game to watch.

Starters for Varsity:
#1 Blake Stabler
#3 Michael Kubik
#8 Danny Faust
#9 Peter Hoette
#10 Max Schwartz
#12 Chris Watkins
#13 Chris Duncan

Scoresheets

The kind folks at Missouri Water Polo have implemented the team rosters into scoresheets on their website. The intention is to create a standard scoresheet that all teams can use that already has all of the player names and cap number on the sheet. I think it's genius. It is my intention for the Chaminade scorekeepers to use these scoresheets instead of purchasing a book from S&R Sport as has been done in the past.

The advantage will be the simplicity of being able to print out the scoresheets the day of the game and not have to write in any names. The disadvantage is not having carbon copies available to give to the opposing coach after the game. I think the advantages out-weigh the disadvantages.

• Chaminade Varsity Home Scoresheet
• Chaminade Varsity Away Scoresheet
• Chaminade JV Home Scoresheet
• Chaminade JV Away Scoresheet

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the Chaminade College Prep Water Polo blog. The purpose of this blog is to keep parents, alumni and fans up to speed on what is going on with the team. I will try and post regularly after games to give a synopsis, what went right, and sometimes what went wrong. If you have any suggestions or want to add some information to the post, please feel free to write in the "Comments" section (at least it will let me know that people are actually reading this thing).

I think we are going to have a great season and I am looking forward to our first game. Go Red Devils!