By Paul Silverfarb
Sentinel Editor
The Greenwich High School boys’ water polo team has something to prove during this weekend’s Cardinal Tournament. After losing its home tournament for the first time in 16 years last year, regaining the stop spot is a priority.
And if the chips fall a certain way, the Cardinals could get the chance to exact revenge on their only two losses this season as well.
“We really want to start a new winning streak at the Cardinal Tournament,” said senior captain Tegan D’Agostino. “It’s definitely one of our top goals this year, and it would definitely be better to send off this year by getting the tournament trophy back in our hands. It’s a lot of fun here because our friends get to come and see us. Not a lot of people get a chance to watch our games, so I feel like it’s the one time a year where everybody gets to see what Greenwich water polo is and who we are.”
The annual Cardinal Tournament kicks off Friday night and runs throughout the day on Saturday, as a plethora of teams from around the region get together in the GHS pool to compete.
“It’s really the marquee for our program,” said GHS head coach Jimmy Ramaley. “Not only does it get to show off the team of that year, but also the history of the program. There are a lot of alumni in town that are now starting to have kids that are coming back to the program. They are seeing it and remember it, and it’s great. The town is rich in tradition in all the sports, but for a sport like water polo that is relatively small to have an over 40-year history is pretty cool. It’s a unique thing that not a lot of programs across the country can say.”
Ramaley said that last year there were a lot of teams in the Cardinal Tournament that were very senior heavy. He believes that this year is not the case.
“It’s definitely a younger tournament overall,” Ramaley said. “If all goes the way it should, it looks like Brunswick and Greenwich will play in the championship game this year. Last year Brunswick got upset by Chelsea Piers and that was a twist that we weren’t really ready for. You never really know what is going to happen. There are a lot of great teams out there.”
And, it was that Chelsea Piers team from Stamford that knocked Greenwich out of the top spot in the Cardinal Tournament. For the first time in 16 years, Greenwich did not take home the gold at its home tournament, and it does not sit well with the players.
“Our team is always hungry, but now they are coming into the tournament on a mission to regain the championship, especially the senior captains,” Ramaley said. “They kind of felt the burden as junior starters that they were the ones that lost it, so it means much more to them to be the class that started it again. We are hopeful of that.”
The goal for this year’s Cardinal Tournament is quite simple for Greenwich High School. After losing last year’s tournament for the first time in 16 years, Big Red comes into this year’s Cardinal Tournament with only two losses on the season, both to rival Brunswick School.
“We haven’t had any home games this year, so this will not only be the first time that we are here, but also our third shot at Brunswick,” Ramaley said. “We lost at their pool 11-9 in a close one and lost after leading most of the game at the finals of the Beast of the East. We are hoping third time is a charm. Dating back to last year, we have lost to them four times in a row. To win the tournament would be special, and to beat Brunswick would be icing on the cake.”
“It’s definitely one of our biggest tournaments of the year,” said senior captain Niki de la Sierra. “We’ve been working very hard, especially after our first Brunswick loss. We worked very hard and came a lot closer during our second time playing them. We hope to play them in the final and potentially take a win. We work hard every single day.”
And, it’s no surprise to anybody in the pool that Greenwich High has talent.
Sophomore Manuel Pemberthy has shown that he’s the arm that they have been missing for the past couple of years. Any time he gets the ball, he’s a threat to score. Against Brunswick in the championship game, he had five goals and the first three of the game.
“He has that knack of getting open without overdoing it. He doesn’t need the ball every second, but if he finds himself in a good spot, he really capitalizes on that. His legs are something that really drives his shot. He can get up so high that it lets him shoot over, around and through people. That really stands out when you watch him play.”
Backing up Pemberthy at the attack is D’Agostino, and Ramaley is thrilled with his performance this season, saying that he gives Big Red a lot of extra man opportunities in the way he draws exclusions through the middle and finishes on the inside. He is joined by fellow senior de la Sierra, who leads the Cards on the counterattack because of his speed and he leads the team in steals.
“Those two captains play off of Manuel nicely,” Ramaley said. “They don’t need the ball as much. They can work off the ball and kind of lead the team in other areas.”
Between the pipes this year will be a familiar face, as senior captain Kyle Laufenberg has returned to start for Greenwich High. He has been lights out this year and is expected to be much of the same during the Cardinal Tournament.
“There’s no better time of the year,” said Laufenberg. “This is our big tournament, and everybody comes out to support us. We don’t have a lot of home games, so it’s great when the whole school comes out to support us. It’s nice to have everybody cheering for you instead of against you. We feed off that momentum. We really get the crowd into it.”
As a team, Greenwich has allowed just under 5.5 goals a game in their first 15 games, and Ramaley said that’s because of the quality in goal.
“He has an aggressive nature and is great at anticipating,” Ramaley said. “Some goalies might be a little longer and just stay home a little bit and wait. He knows where the shooters are shooting before they shoot the ball. He makes these incredible saves on breakaway that not a lot of people can make, and he makes them with two hands and makes them look easy. Brunswick is the only team that has put up six on us this year, and a lot of those were when we were man down or in foul trouble.
And, Laufenberg has some help in front of him. Because of his length, de la Sierra has transitioned to a little more of a defender in the pool. In addition to de la Sierra, Greenwich has four juniors that can play either position in the middle or shut down the opposition’s best players. John Caruso, Thomas Hoffmeister, Spencer Plavoukos and Charlie Clark are all players that Ramaley uses for their versatility.
“They can all guard a player and also be asked to score the next goal,” Ramaley said. “Every one of them is capable of shutting down their guy and could kick it up a notch on the offensive end. It’s something that we exploit a lot, especially at the Beast of the East. We took advantage of some matchups that we had. We have like 10 guys that can go in there and take advantage of a weaker player, where last year we didn’t really have that.”
And, there’s no rest for Greenwich High School. After the Cardinal Tournament finishes up, there’s only a few more days of practice before Big Red boards a plane and heads to West Coast. The GHS water polo program has gone to Texas, Michigan, Canada and Florida. While competing at those prestigious tournaments was a great experience, this upcoming trip will be one to remember.
“It’s really an honor to be with this team and go somewhere Greenwich water polo has never been before,” Laufenberg said. “I think we are very capable and everybody knows what their job is on the team. When we go out there, we are prepared to play and dominate, like I know this team can.”
For the first time in school history, GHS will battle the best California has to offer when they are one of 32 teams participating in the Steve Pal Memorial, hosted by Esperanza Aquatics, in Orange County.
“In our past travel tournaments, we have always been equal or better than a lot of those areas,” Ramaley said. “So, to go out there, where we are the unknown, we are excited to see what our program can do at the high school level out there. The boys are really excited about this because they want to prove that we can compete with any team out there. There’s an unknown there for us because we just don’t know. We don’t know if we are going to get our butts kicked or if we are going to be able to play with these teams. Regardless, it will be a great experience.”
