Saskatchewan water polo reached unexpected heights late last month thanks in part to the hard work of two local athletes.
Taeghen Hack and Emily Marshall helped lead the Team Saskatchewan under-16 and under-19 clubs to a silver medal at the National Championship League (NCL) Canadian Championships at Montreal’s Claude-Robillard Sports Complex on May 27 and 28. Taeghen, 14, suited up as an out for the U16 team, while Emily, 15, pulled double-duty as a forward for both the U16 and U19 clubs.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking seeing the big Olympic stadium,” said Taeghen, who was competing in her first national championships. “It was nerve-wracking, but once you got in the water it was you play or you lose. So, we played our hardest.”
Team Saskatchewan U16 was a long shot to even make it out of the NCL Western Nationals let alone bring home a silver medal at the National Championships. The provincial team entered the Western Nationals tournament at Surrey, B.C.’s Guildford Recreation Centre on May 7 and 8 with a 10-10 regular season record and placed third in the Western Conference standings.
On the first day of the tournament, Team Saskatchewan fell behind to the second-place Pacific Storm (13-7) 2-0 early before battling back to take a 4-2 lead halfway through the second period. After the Storm brought the score to 4-3, Taeghen quickly found the back of the net to restore the two-goal lead and propel the club to an eventual 9-8 win. That victory locked up a spot for Team Saskatchewan in the gold medal game against the top seeded Fraser Valley squad (20-0), which they lost to by a score of 11-10, as well as a berth at the National Championships.
Taeghen notched the provincial team’s first goal at Nationals with a marker 29 seconds into the first period on the NCL Eastern Conference’s first-place CAMO (19-1). Team Saskatchewan went on to win the game 12-9 setting up a rematch with Fraser Valley for the Canadian U16 title.
“It was a really close game,” said Emily, about their last-minute 7-6 loss to Fraser Valley. “We were winning a bit and then they were winning and then we were winning (and) it just ended with them winning I guess. But they only won by one, so it was a good game. We put our hearts into it and we fought for it, so I’m happy.”
Taeghen said playing Fraser Valley to the one-goal losses in both the Western National and National Championships is something everyone on the team is proud of. She said they started the season on Dec. 4 by losing 22-6 to Fraser Valley at the Surrey Sport and Leisure Centre, so the progress they made in the pool over the next few months is evident by the results in those two losses.
Team Saskatchewan U19 gained a spot at the National Championships with a gold medal performance in the NCL Western Nationals at the Guildford Recreation Centre from April 22 to 24. The club followed that up with an 18-13 win over the NCL Eastern Conference’s second-place Golden Horseshoe (9-9-2) on May 27 before falling 21-3 to the top-seeded CAMO (19-0-1) in the gold medal game the next afternoon.
Emily said CAMO has been a powerhouse in water polo for as long as she can remember and that was the case again in the gold medal game. She said the lopsided loss didn’t damper the players’ spirits on the bench or their work ethic in the water and they’re proud of taking home a silver medal.
“We fought hard to get there,” said Emily, who saw limited action against Golden Horseshoe before heading into the pool on a more frequent basis versus CAMO. “We went from seeded third in Westerns to first in the West then we worked our butts off to get to the gold medal game. I think honestly it was a good game. We gave it our all.”
Playing with both the U16 and U19 squads meant Emily only had a two-hour gap between the gold medal games to re-energize and refocus. She said that quick turnaround made the Nationals experience a bit overwhelming, but the hope is she’ll be able to accomplish the same feat next year.
Taeghen said the highlight of competing at Nationals was losing in the gold medal game. She said that may not sound right, but the fact that they were even there proves the great strides Team Saskatchewan made in Canadian water polo this season.
“I was told at the very start…that we didn’t have a chance,” said Taeghen, who hopes to compete with the U16 squad again next year. “We just stepped up our game. People thought we were going to be the underdogs all season (and) everyone was just going to crush us, but we came out fighting.”
