Several Estevan Sharks water polo teams were at provincials last weekend, earning medals in the process.
Last Saturday, the Cadet Finals were held at the Lawson Centre in Regina and the Estevan Sharks girls U16 team completed the tournament undefeated. They played seven games in total including winning the Gold medal final.
“The cadet team has a core of the Hack sisters and the Andrist sisters, girls who have been playing together for about seven years. When they’re all clicking, it’s hard to beat their teamwork,” said coach Tania Andrist. “These girls have a real trust in each other and it shows on both offence and defence.”
Newcomers to the team, Breanna Sinclair and Katryna Heleta, contributed to the winning weekend for the cadet Sharks. Top scorer and team leader was Teaghen Hack, who has moved to Regina to play water polo but still suits up for her local club.
“Teaghen is a very strong player, so when we were in tight games, it helped to have her talent on our side,” said Andrist.
On the boys’ side of the cadet tournament, the Estevan sharks were competing in a league where they have no players of the cadet age group. They battled hard against stronger and older teams and came out with one win. The team improved throughout the tournament, particularly Cameron Gillingham, who was top scorer with four goals. The Cadet teams will travel to Saskatoon on the weekend of March 31 for provincials.
The atom and bantam teams were there also. The bantam Sharks boys team had a great weekend in Regina for the finals this past weekend. They came out with a win in their first game against the Weyburn Hurricanes with a score of 6-1. The boys came out strong and played well as a team with the help of their goalie Lyndon Sauder and player Tristan Threinen scoring four goals.
They tied their second game against the Armada Freedom Boat 5-5. They played a tough third game against the Armada Cruisers and ended in a loss of 6-4. They played Freedom Boat again and this time fought hard for a win. Cameron Gillingham put the pressure on and helped the boys take them to the gold medal game with a 7-5 win. The boys had to fight a little harder in the gold medal match against the Cruisers.
The Estevan Sharks walked away from that game with a 9-4 loss but a silver medal.
The Hammerhead Sharks won their games 3-2, 5-3, 5-4, 6-5, and then played for Gold and were tied 3-3 and lost in a very exciting shootout. Tiger Sharks tied 5-5, and lost one and won one. They went on to play for the bronze medal and lost 8-5.
The Bantam Sharks will travel to Saskatoon the weekend of March 31 for Water Polo Sask provincials.
The Tiger Sharks started the day with a 3-3 tie against Regina Captains followed by a 7-1 win against Saskatoon. Moving on to play Weyburn, Noah Mvula earned a shutout in a 5-0 win. The Tiger Sharks earned their way into the finals as they won their fourth game against the Captains with a win of 2-0. Of the 17 goals scored this tournament, Logan Dalziel led the way with seven goals.
The Reef Sharks came out strong with a 7-5 win against the Regina Admirals and a 6-3 win against Weyburn. In the qualifying game for finals, the Tiger Sharks excitedly cheered on their teammates the Reef Sharks as they lead the game against the Admirals, however in the last couple minutes of the game the Admirals caught up resulting in a tie of 6-6. This forced the boys to a shootout, losing by one point, the Reef Sharks, move on to play their final game against the Captains, winning 6-3 and bringing home a bronze medal in the competition. Of their 25 goals this weekend, Lucas Dzeryk and Dierks Milford scored 10 goals each.
The Tiger Sharks now faced the Admirals in the gold medal match. They played hard but came up short in a 5-1 loss with a goal scored by Jace Carritt.
With a silver and bronze medal from this tournament, the boys will join together as one team for Spring Provincials in Saskatoon on March 24-25, where they will play as one team to try to bring home the gold medal.
The Estevan Shark Atom Girls had one team entered in the tournament. The Atom girls started out the tournament in a game where they faced two very strong Regina Armada teams. They fought hard in all 6 games, but only managed to win one match. Senior players Sadie Smith, Tayla Gervais, Emily Sauder, Alaina Young, Jordyn Tarnes, Prism Gooding and Lily Knoll all had points during the weekend. They pushed through extremely tight Armada defence with quick passes, hard drives and lots of shots on goal.
