Everybody loves a good revenge story.
And that was the feeling this past Saturday, as the North Penn Knights took down the Wilson Bulldogs at the Pennsylvania Girls Water Polo State Championship with a final score of 9-6.
This rivalry between North Penn and Wilson has been cooking up for a year now. At last year’s State Championship game 2022 PA Girls Water Polo State Championship: North Penn vs. Wilson 11-5-22, North Penn earned runner-up honors North Penn earned runner-up honors, falling short of a win with a final score of 10-5 to Wilson.
“Coming off a loss the previous season, I knew that we were going to have to work hard and that’s exactly what the team did,” team Captain Brigid Carmody said.
This season Wilson was undefeated against every team in the state, except for North Penn, who went 2-1 on the season against the Bulldogs. However, Wilson did beat North Penn once in a 7-6 victory on October 7th.
“It was frustrating because I knew we could play better and we weren’t adapting to Wilson, we were playing the same way we would play at a scrimmage or a practice. There was a lot of nerves from the people in the stands and I think that got to us too, it was a bit of a letdown,” All-State First Team Fiona Rowe said.
North Penn Goalie and All-State Third Team Zoe Welsh followed up, saying “We did not play to the best of our abilities, and it was a letdown for us as a team that we were not able to pull through with the win at the end. But it taught us what to improve.”
Despite the loss, losing to the archrival Bulldogs taught the North Penn girls a valuable lesson about being able to adapt to and handle the pressure, especially during a high-stakes game.
“They [Wilson] got our girls off balance, but we were able to watch that film and we were able to bounce ourselves out, good, solid defense and offense. And our defense especially led the way this weekend,” head coach Jason Grubb stated.
“[The loss] taught us a lot of things about how we can improve our playing and cooperation as a team. The pressure of blocking one-on-none shots is very high, especially at a game of that level, [but] the team supported me by getting back on defense and responding quickly to stop attempted one-on-nones,” Welsh added.
“It was a lot different going into a state champ game as an upperclassman than how it felt the last two years,” Rowe said. “I missed a few penalty shots and it got to my head, but I was able to get over that and realize that I am better than that. A lot of pressure was there especially to bring back the chip to North Penn after losing last year to Wilson.”
With a final score of 9-6 on Saturday, North Penn proved themselves to be the State Champs, but this was no easy game.
“A lot of pressure going into the fourth, they tied up the game so it was very nerve-racking. But Junior Emily Pironti brought us back up one, and I added up two more goals,” Rowe recounted. “When the final buzzer went off with everyone jumping into the pool, it was a very exhilarating feeling. It felt like revenge, losing last year to them in such a bad way with Coach Grubb taking a red card for us in the semi-finals. Not having him there last year messed with our heads but this year we bounced back.”
“Hearing the buzzer was a great moment knowing that all the long hours put in at practice paid off. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior season,” Carmody stated.
“Having that many kids involved, and having students come and supporting us at the end, it’s so much fun. That pool was super loud, great atmosphere,” Grubb said.