Crab People Champions at Last
The Crab People have done it. A lifelong dream has finally been accomplished. After months of hard work and preparations, the Monmouth College men’s water polo team has won the Division III National Championship.
“Winning nationals is such a great feeling and kind of a relief that we finally did it. After coming so close the past three years, this team needed to finally win the big one,” said player-coach Tony Marino.
“We have been working hard in and out of the water for over the past two months to get to where we are today. We worked hard in the water, weight room, watching film, and scouting other teams to help prepare us for nationals. I also attribute a lot of our success to our team chemistry. Everyone on the team gets along so well and always has each other’s backs.”
The team’s noteworthy camaraderie led to an undefeated conference record and a high level of confidence in the national tournament. In the first round, the Crab People easily defeated Carnegie Mellon University 17-3. Raheem Brown led the game with five goals, while Marino and Neal Hosper ended with three goals each.
With positive momentum on their side, the semi-final match against Emory University ended with a Monmouth victory 16-10. Marino tallied six key goals for the Crab People; Gabe Baginski and Brown followed with three goals apiece.
After posting two major wins, the Crab People were ready to fight for the championship against Washington University. The game went into a sudden death overtime, before Monmouth captured the title, 12-11. Marino summed up the astonishing finish.
“In the national championship, down by one goal in the final minute of regular overtime, Cameron Weber made an unbelievable pass to setup a goal by Josh Dunn that sent the game into sudden death,” said Marino, highlighting the game-winning play. Marino finished off Washington, scoring in sudden death to give the Crab People the title.
The top scorers on the winning weekend were freshman Brown with 14 goals and junior Marino with 12 goals. Other key players who added to the success were senior Dunn by supplying defensive “dirty work” and freshman Alex Hernandez by notching 13 saves in the championship game.
The team also dominated in tournament honors, with Brown named player of the game against Carnegie Mellon and Washington University and Marino named player of the game against Emory.
Brown was honored as MVP of the national tournament and named first team all-tournament team. Marino was named second team all-tournament team. A strong roster coupled with solid team chemistry paved the way for Monmouth’s uncharted success.
“Our passion for the sport is definitely what took us to the top. Whether that means working hard at each practice or organizing recruiting overnights ourselves, we have never lost the motivation to keep pushing and keep trying to reach the next level,” said junior Chris Falkenrath.
“Winning nationals is one of the greatest achievements of my life. It’s something very special that the entire team deserves to cherish, whether they started or not. I’ll never forget the feeling of rushing the pool with the rest of the team after Tony’s game-winning goal.”