Ohio Squirrels Water Polo Club

4th at Hillbilly Classic Invitational

    The Ohio Squirrels Water Polo Club traveled to their first out-of-state tournament to the University of Tennessee. While this was their first out-of-state tournament, this would also be their first outdoor tournament too. Heading down Friday evening to Knoxville with 16 experienced and eager Squirrels, they knew this would be a tough one with teams coming from as far as Michigan State, Chicago, Purdue, Virginia and Charlotte. Total teams was 13 outstanding programs.
            The Squirrels' first match was up against host Tennessee Volunteers at 7:30am on Saturday morning. As the steam rose above the water level, the Squirrels immediately jumped on Tennessee and never released their grip. Utilizing a deep bench and speed, the Squirrels were able to capitalize and finish the Volunteers off 11-3.
            The Squirrels' next came across high ranked University of Michigan who has had a reputation of making a strong showing in the Big-Ten Conference. Vince Scalici and Jason Wickes showed strong performances on both the offensive and defensive ends, while speed was a major help thanks to Dave Eisenstein and Chris Mathers. Corey Dauw blocked a 5m shot to put a damper on the Wolverines' offensive momentum. Going into the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Squirrels had a strong lead of 5-3. However, due to sloppy defensive play and miscues on man-down defensive, it was tied 5-5 going into the end of regulation. Sudden death was required and winning the swim-off was imperative. Dave Eisenstein bolted from the wall to win the swim off tossing it out to Vince Scalici. His plan initially was to get the foul at 5m and take an immediate shop. Strong defense by the Wolverines didn't allow Vince to get any foul. He flipped the ball to an open Michael Jones who was at 7m as he faked the ball twice and put just enough velocity on it to go in the upper corner of the goal to win the game. The Squirrels' bench exploded with cheers and excitement as the Squirrels had momentum going into their next game, Team Chicago.
            Game 3 was going to be brutal thanks to prior engagements between a fellow teammate and Team Chicago grew the Ohio Squirrels to become angry and in need of retribution. The Squirrels knew they had speed and strong passing capabilities. From the very beginning, they did not hold anything back. Capitalizing and anticipating every shot, the Squirrels jumped on Team Chicago and finished them off with a 15-9 victory allowing them to go into the semi-final match against Michigan State (one of the top finishers at 2007 Club National Championships).

After a long Saturday, the Squirrels were prepared for an opening match against powerhouse Michigan State. Thriving on a counter attack, the Squirrels had to shut down their only offensive power before making any moves. Quickly being jumped on, the Squirrels were out swam in the first two quarters and were down 10-4 to the Spartans. Squirrels used this as a lesson and made strong defensive efforts but were not enough. The Squirrels lost their first match of the tournament 13-6.
            The final game of the tournament was against a highly matched Purdue Alumni program. With the Squirrels exchanging goals early with the Boilermakers, Purdue was able to come out on top with an 8-6 win providing them with a 4th place finish overall. Overall, the Ohio Squirrels would like to thank the University of Tennessee for hosting a well-rounded and highly organized event. We look forward to Aprils' Dogwood Invitational. Go Nuts!