Grand Valley?

Congratulations to the Grand Valley State Lakers for winning the CWPA National Championship this past weekend in Boston, taking home two thrillers, 4-2 over UCLA in the Semis and 9-8 over Michigan State in the championship.

For us, on the flipside...we at Notre Dame Water Polo must know what the football team felt after losing to USC.

Since most of you probably didn't even know that ND had a water polo team, allow me to explain here. We're one of the most competitive non-varsity teams in the country, as evidenced by out 15-5 record, top 10 CWPA Ranking, and victories this season over Michigan, Michigan State, and Miami (Ohio), three teams considered powerhouses in the club polo ranks.

And three of our losses? To Grand Valley. By a combined 8 goals. The one that hurts the most is easily the one which ended our season in last month's Great Lakes Conference title game. We played outstanding but gave back just a little bit more than we could handle and lost to the eventual national champions 10-9. And it wasn't like Grand Valley had always been far ahead of us and so we were happy to just close the gap. This year was the THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR we have lost by one goal in the final minute to that team. We were so close, so agonizingly close...

In any event, I suppose we do owe the Lakers a bit of a thank you because next season's Great Lakes champion goes to the national tournament as the #1 seed.