Brunswick Water Polo Is Stronger Than Ever

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Brunswick School goalie Charlie Pang makes the save during a recent game this season. (Brunswick athletic department)
Brunswick School goalie Charlie Pang makes the save during a recent game this season. (Brunswick athletic department)

By Paul Silverfarb
Editor

Last season the Brunswick School water polo team dominated play and once again brought home a New England championship trophy to the King Street campus.

“We are so far ahead of where we’ve been at this point in past years,” the head coach said. “Ulmis (Iordache) is so good with the progression. We are playing some good ball. To watch our man-up unit move the ball is amazing.”

On Saturday, the Bruins traveled up to Deerfield Academy to take on both Deerfield and Phillips Andover Academy. To say Brunswick had a day was an understatement. Not only did they win both matches, but they outscored their opponents a combined 29-10.

With the two victories this weekend, Brunswick improved to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the New England Prep School Water Polo League.

Against Deerfield Academy, the Bruins came away with the 14-6 victory. Tim Saunders led Brunswick with the hat trick, while Will Marvin, Cole Pierce and Keegan Drew each finished with two goals. The group of Peter Mullen, Nico Apostolides, Simon Derby, Tate Robinson and Max Kilberg each took home one goal.

In net, Charlie Pang took home three saves, while Christian Hartch also saw action and finished with two goals.

Later in the day, Brunswick headed back into the pool against Phillips Andover Academy and came away with the impressive 15-4 victory.

The trio of Apostolides, Marvin and Derby paced the Bruins with three goals each. Drew and Saunders each took home two goals, while Thacher Scannell and Robinson rounded out the scoring with one goal each.

In net, Pang started and took home two saves, while teammates Hartch finished with one and Colin Wahl added five saves.

While the two conference victories were a stellar way to keep the good times rolling at Brunswick, nothing was better than its first game of the season, a contest against cross-town rival Greenwich High School.

The Bruins built a good-sized lead early against the Cardinals and held on for the thrilling 6-5 victory over Big Red in their home pool.

“The Greenwich High game was a great win for us,” Tillman said. “We would have not been unhappy if we lost that as a season-opener. We would have been happy if we gave a good effort. So to win that was pretty nice.”

Leading the way for the Bruins was Marvin, who finished with the hat trick. The trio of Derby, Piece and Scannell each added one goal to help clinch the victory.

However, the star of the game was Pang, who had several saves in the final minute of play, including a penalty shot with five seconds to play that would have tied the game, 6-6, and sent the contest to overtime.

There have been several times in the past where the Bruins were close to the Cardinals, but never were able to get over the hump and claim victory against their cross-town rival. That is, until last week’s game.

“It validates what we’ve been doing,” Tillman said. “It was one of the stepping stones for us. We started as a JV program, so the first step was get invited in the league. Then it was to have a winning season and then to make the tournament. Then it was to get invited to the Cardinal Tournament. From there it was to win New Englands and then to beat Greenwich High. We are getting there.”

Helping the Bruins reach new heights this year will be co-captains Pang and Marvin.

Pang is a four-year starter in net for Brunswick. He’s a two-time All-New England award winner and was named Liquid Four MVP last season.

“He’s solid,” Tillman said. “Besides being in amazing shape, he knows where and when to make the outlet pass and whether or not to try a risky pass or just send it to the up guys. They are accurate passes too. He gives us a great level of confidence.”

Marvin is also a four-year starter and is a tremendous leader, both in and out of the pool.

“Because he’s a three-sport athlete, he gets the respect of the kids,” Tillman said. “He’s such a good athlete. He plays inside, so in those shallow, narrow pools he doesn’t see a lot of action because everything is compressed on him. We look at him to make the opposing team’s defense collapse. And if they don’t, we’ll give it to Will and he will certainly find the back of the net.”

In addition to Marvin, Derby will be looked upon to get the bulk of the scoring, as he joins Marvin and plays inside. In addition, Scannell and Apostolides will get their fair share of goals.

“Those two are like point guards,” Tillman said. “If you don’t pay attention to them, they will make you pay. They always find a way to get the goals.”

Mullen is another threat and Pierce is a lefty specialist, so he plays a lot on the left side, especially with the man-up.

Also helping the team will be freshman Kyle Yelensky, who is currently nursing a finger injury but will be back after a few games.

“He’s a force,” Tillman said. “What he will do is allow Will and Simon to move outside so we can rotate players around. There’s not one guy on this team you can focus on. Our guys are so versatile and our bench guys are learning the game and improving every day.”

Playing off the bench this season will be Tate Robinson, Tim Saunders and senior Max Kilberg.

Kilberg has been on the team as a freshman and his veteran leadership on the team will be clutch this season.

“He’s a good kid,” Tillman said. “He works hard and will get meaningful minutes. His senior leadership will be helpful in the team’s success. He’s a little more vocal than the other captains and that’s nice to have.”

And with Ulmis Iordache continuing his dominant teaching of water polo as the team’s co-head coach, this year’s team is going to be as strong as ever.

“He has taught the team that we have six men in the water and everybody is involved,” Tillman said. “In year’s past, Julian Ronda was our hole defense and he was really good at it. Now on defense any of these guys can play. Ulmis is a phenomenal coach and does a wonderful job adjusting the style of play to the kids we have on the team.”

Now Brunswick is getting into the tough part of its schedule, when they play games against Loomis Chaffee School, Suffield Academy and Exeter. And that’s not including another contest at home against Greenwich High.

“I have to think we are the team to beat in New England, but if we go up and lose one of those games, I think we’ll be okay,” Tillman said. “Our goal is to first make the playoffs. The Liquid Four will be in an eight-lane all deep pool, just like the one we have here. We will we fine.”

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