This past weekend Cathedral Prep showed its dominance in the pool as the water polo team underwent their first tournament of the year. This past weekend the squad showed much promise.
Last year the team did extraordinarily well, placing third at the state tournament, the best Prep has done in over a decade. And things are looking up for the Ramblers as all but two starters return from last years starting lineup. The loss of Michael S. Squeliga leaves Prep without a starting whole set, but the squad isn’t worried. The offense is looking more balanced this year, and a lot of players are getting good playing time off the bench
All of this was proven in the Ramblers’ outstanding performance against last year’s state champs North Allegheny (NA) this weekend. The two teams squared off first thing Saturday morning and were more evenly matched than expected. The Tigers, who were the preseason favorite to win the state title again this year, got a rude awakening from the Ramblers as Prep came out in the first quarter looking like a well-oiled machine. However, NA managed to battle back in the second quarter and were up three goals at the half. But despite the deficit, Prep failed to give up and put together a perfect second half to topple the Tigers 15 to 13.

It was the first time Head Coach Mike Doyle has beaten the Tigers since he started coaching. However, he doesn’t want the Ramblers to get cocky. He understands this is just one of the many times these two teams will face off against each other this year, and next time North Allegheny will be wanting revenge.
Despite this huge success, the weekend was not all fun and games. The second game of the tournament was against Greenwich, the best high school water polo team on the east coast. And this game was anything but fun for the Ramblers. Within the first minute of playing, Greenwich put three goals in the net, setting the tone for the rest of the game. However, the Ramblers managed to rummage six goals by the end of the game making the score 22-6.
Even with this devastating loss, the Ramblers were able to end the tournament the way they started it. The last game of the day was against Cathedral Prep’s longtime rivals, McDowell High School. The past few years McDowell has been a below average team, and this weekend Prep proved this statement by defeating the Trojans 17-6.
All in all the tournament was a huge success for the Ramblers. The team walked away from the tournament with a 2-0 conference record and 2-1 overall record. Additionally, they sent a huge message to the rest of the state letting them know how good the Ramblers are by beating the state champ favorites NA.