Saints Men’s Water Polo Welcomes the New Year with a Win

via @ustawaterpolo on Instagram.

The St Andrews Men’s Water Polo team began the new year with a momentous 20-6 victory over Aberdeen this past Wednesday. Goals came from Pierluigi Mafi (#3), Geoffrey Le Calvez (#4), Aidan Wood (#5), Jack Kornowske (#7), and Brewer Stone (#10), marking a statement win to open the semester.

Following the match, I spoke with team captain Jack Kornowske about the significance of the result and what it means for the squad moving forward.

How does it feel to kick off the new year with a win?

Jack: It feels great to kick off the semester with a win! The team has, for the past two years, been slowly building back from only having four members during my first year. Aberdeen, for instance, is a team we once played with only four guys. They had to give us a goalie and two more players to make a full team. It’s really gratifying to see how far we’ve come and beat a team that we couldn’t even properly compete against in the past.

What do you think was key to your team’s success in this game?

Jack: Besides having some excellent players, our team’s success on Wednesday was rooted in our cooperation and hard work. We had 8 players available, which left us only one sub. 2 of those 8 are also new to the sport, so while they were subbed out every so often, the rest of the team had to play the full game. That amount of swimming back and forth is exhausting, but our players really stuck it out and persevered. Most hadn’t done much training over the break either, so we were essentially jumping from 0 to 100 right after coming back.

How do you, as captain, keep the team motivated and focused, especially at the start of a new year?

Jack: To keep the team motivated, I like to remind them of the games we have coming up. Our next game is against Dundee, our rivals, and the winner advances in the cup. We beat them in the first semester (although, due to a confusing and rather annoying series of events, that game was voided and rescheduled), and I know we can beat them again. That previous game being rescheduled is what we’re working towards, as of now it’s our last scheduled game. As far as I know, the St Andrews Men’s team hadn’t beaten Dundee’s Men’s team in decades. That’s been a huge motivating factor for the team, the knowledge that we can beat them. When we play games, we try to think of every quarter as its own game. You can win the first quarter, but to win the game you still have to win the second quarter. It’s the same going into a new semester. We had some tough losses last semester and some great wins as well, but we can’t get caught up in that. We have to start again and play to the best of our ability.

What are your goals for the team this semester, and how does this first win set the tone?

Jack: Our biggest goal is to beat Dundee. After the first match was rescheduled, we all decided we were going to beat them again. This first win was a great way to get back into the competition mindset, especially on the heels of a long break. As long as I’ve been on the team, we haven’t beaten Aberdeen. While the Dundee match will be more difficult, the principle is the same: we have to win.

Congratulations to the Saints on their first win of the year. Support the team in their crucial match against Dundee this Wednesday, February 4th.