With their hearts set on gold, the two Northern Elite 16U teams got off to an early start as the Crimson team started the day with a 7am game while the Navy team began at 8am.
The Crimson team started fast and finished fast as they hit their opponent with a devastating knockout blow by putting themselves ahead by 5 goals in the first half. Coach Ryan Klaus attributed the speed of Christian Yanagashita and Matt LoGrasso as the spark plug that surged Northern Elite Crimson ahead and that kept them ahead. With a well rounded team defense anchored by Peter Berquist in the goal and 2 meter defending by Seth Alston and Alex Laird, the team yielded only 2 goals and went on to finish their semifinal match up 7-2.
Later on in the day, the Crimson group continued their surge into the gold medal match as they stopped a number of their opponent's counter attacks. The physical nature ended up hurting both teams as each squad suffered two major rolls leaving Northern Elite with only 2 subs for the remainder of the game. However, the Lions held strong. With tremendous communication from the back line and great help defense, the Lions forced bad shot after bad shot which ultimately led to counter attack goals. Watching Northern Elite counter out so quickly brought a smile to Coach Ryan Klaus's face as he stated: "Its fun to watch our northern California water polo boys beat the southern California boys at their own game." Southern California, known for its fierce pace and anticipatory nature, struggled against the fluid defense of the Lions and ultimately fell prey to a hungry Crimson Lion team 12-4. The Navy, too, doubled up the gold effort in their division.
With an 8 am start, the Navy team came out sluggish against a fierce Malibu team. Suffering for the first time all tournament, the Lions fell behind early and remained behind 1-0 at the end of the first period. The second period, however, was a different story.
Wearing their new dark caps, that look more like the world all star team caps, the Lions came out with a ferocious vigor about them. Posting a 6-0 run in the second period, the Lions were led by a number of counter attack goals headed by Sean Elmurib and some tremendous passes from Matt Baszucki, Dimitri Herr, Matt Suever and Chris Blank. Everyone factored in on the action as the unselfish play continued well into the finals after Malibu was dismissed 10-3.
In moving into the finals, the Lions faced a Yucaipa team whom they had played just a year before at the exact same tournament. The Northern Elite Navy team came out at a blistering pace but struggled to find the back of the cage. Their defense, however, kept them in the game and at the end of the first half the score was a meager 1-0 in favor of the Lions. The second half left little to be desired, however.
Moving into a press and go defense forced Yucaipa into a number of turnovers which fueled the fire of the Lions. With multiple goals and assists from every member of the team, the Lions found their stride in the second half and ultimately walked themselves into the record books as champions of the Winterfest tournament.
Lucas Novak (Navy) and Peter Berquist (Crimson) were award MVP honors for their performances and leadership in and out of the pool. Lucas Novak averaged just over 4 goals per game while Peter Berquist, a goalie, had a goals against average of just over 2. Both players were honored by the Winterfest host, International Water Polo Club, and Bahram Horjeh, president of International WPC, personally, for their hard work and dedication to excellence.
The Northern Elite teams, Navy and Crimson, both played well and showed what it means to be a Lion. With unselfish play and terrific communication, they were stingy and fought through the ebbs and flows of playing such a rigorous schedule. A tremendous feat to win two separate divisions in the largest club hosted event in the water polo world, Northern Elite is still in its infancy as they have only been in existence for just over a year as this Winterfest marks the 1 year anniversary of their first tournament. The Northern Elite Water Polo Club is proving that educating the entire individual is a formula for success against even the top tier clubs in the California area.
Special thanks to International Water Polo Club for hosting the Winterfest event that consisted of 300 teams and over 100 clubs. A tremendous feat that is cause for instant respect and admiration. Northern Elite is already looking forward to the Winterfest Water Polo Tournament in 2014!!!!!
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