The Estevan Sharks water polo program came home with three medals from the provincial finals in Saskatoon this past weekend.
The atoms sent two teams to provincials. The atom boys started the weekend with a commanding 23-3 victory against the Weyburn Hurricanes, with Logan Dalziel and Tristan Threinen scoring six times each.
Their strong play continued in the second game, with a 12-6 victory over the Regina Armada girls team. Lucas Dzeryk came up with some big defensive plays in the win.
“The kids started scoring goals that we wouldn’t have expected them to make,” said coach David Dzeryk. “Logan Dalziel got a rebound shot that was amazing and Ethan Elliot shot a goal into the net that was almost from the centre line...you just don’t expect kids this age to be pulling out tricks like these during a game.”
The victory put them in top spot in the round-robin, and they faced the Armada girls again in the semifinal. The Sharks won 12-10 to advance to the final.
In the final against the Armada boys, the Sharks led 5-4 after the first half, but wound up dropping the game 11-10, as they couldn’t bury the tying goal.
Lyndon Sauder was in goal for most of the weekend.
The atom girls had a tough start to the tournament, but they pulled it together and won the bronze medal game 12-10 over the Regina Armada.
“There was one play where Abbygael Birnie stole the ball from the (Weyburn) Hurricanes right in front of our net; she knew she couldn’t swim it up to our end, so she passed it across to Sadie Smith who then passed it to Maria Baniulis once she cleared up and was closer to the next...that’s the kind of teamwork you like to see,” said coach Jason Dalziel. “All kids were playing for the team, and not just for the goal. I was very proud of them.”
The bantam Sharks also had two teams in provincials. The girls team combined with a Saskatoon squad to form a team that struggled early on in the tournament, playing against boys. But they found themselves in the bronze medal game against the Regina Armada boys squad, and they came home with the bronze with a 13-7 win.
Also, both those girls teams received gold medals for being the top team in the co-ed atom and bantam leagues.
As for the bantam boys, they worked hard, but came up short in their quest for a medal.
