By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

Both Milford water polo teams competed at the state tournament earlier this month and both teams found their way to the podium.

The girls’ team started first, traveling to Princeton High School for the 32nd girls’ tournament on Oct 21 and 22. The Lady Eagles opened play as the three seed against Sycamore High School. The Lady Eagles dropped a 4-3 decision to the Lady Aviators to start the tournament. They then dropped another close game to the Cincinnati Mavericks, falling to the seventh-place game. They rolled through that contest, winning 17-8 to finish in seventh place.

Head coach Kevin Metzger said the team may not have accomplished their goal in terms of where they finished, but they did learn some valuable lessons.

“Our team learned a lot this past weekend in terms of character and leadership,” Metzger said. “We did not achieve our goal of placing third in the state or better, but we achieved so many other goals. The girls on our team faced a loss they were not expecting early on in the tournament, and they were forced to change their mentality for the games on Saturday. I believe they succeeded in doing this and were able to end on a positive note. If I had to say one thing that described our weekend, I would say that our girls SOARed.”

At Milford, S.O.A.R provides the pillar for the team’s core values, which helped the team bounce back before their third game.

“The girls learned that keeping optimistic throughout the tournament forced them to play better,” Metzger said. “Their positivity was evident in the third game and they started to play like the team we watched all season.”

The team had five seniors on the varsity roster this past year, and Metzger said each and every one of them played a key role in the team’s success.

“They were a crucial part to our program,” Metzger said. “Their leadership as well as character radiated throughout the younger players. They have been such a positive influence to our program. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls to lead our team.”

As he prepares for next season, Metzger said the team will look to get even better despite the loss of so many upperclassmen.

“As always, our expectations for next season are to improve,” Metzger said. “We will have a young team after losing the amount of seniors that we do, but we still have experience on the team that will help lead us through some key victories.”

The boys’ water polo team competed at the state tournament on Oct. 28 and Oct. 29.

Before the matches, Metzger said he felt that the team would be ready to compete with the teams at the meet.

“The boys team this season have been continuing growing and learning from game-to-game,” Metzger said. “They have been practicing strong this past few weeks and have strong plans to advance through the tournament. The boys had much to learn from previous seasons and our core values have helped them stay focused and positive even through tough losses. I believe they are very ready for the teams they will face in the tournament.”

Much like the girls’ team, the boys’ squad is also senior-laden, which can be a bit of a double-edged sword, according to Metzger.

“Having a large amount of seniors is the best and worst thing for a team,’ Metzger said. “The seniors have so much experience, but you only have them for one more season. As a coach, you wish you could keep your seniors for longer than four years. These seniors have made the most of their careers and continue to be a positive influence on our team.”

The influence held by the seniors can be seen in some of the team’s underclassmen. Metzger said he has noticed sizable growth from the team’s sophomore class, which he planned on relying upon at the state tournament.

“Our sophomores have learned so much this season,” Metzger said. “They have earned crucial playing time in varsity games. I will be relying on them to give some of our starting line-up a rest. They have a large level of endurance and have showed their drive to shoot and score.”

The Eagles got the weekend at the state tournament off to a solid start as the eighth seed, defeating Kilboune 9-8 in overtime at Princeton High School in their first contest.

That win earned the team a matchup against top-seeded St. Charles, which the Eagles lost 24-11. They then dropped a 13-8 decision to Sycamore, dropping them to the eighth-place match.

The Eagles fell in that match to St. Francis by a score of 16-9 to finish the season in eighth place.