Flashback from 2012 Still Resonates for this St. Francis Brooklyn Fan
A recent post on Facebook by Ed Haas of the Collegiate Water Polo Association unexpectedly took me down memory lane. Don’t get me wrong; it was a pleasant stroll for all the right reasons. But, I’m not someone to look back too often, especially when it’s almost nine years ago, and right at the beginning of my water polo coverage.
To set the stage, you might want to view the following video:
I was in the stands on that date (with my family, as it turns out) and was smitten by what I saw. As a “traditional” sports guy I was drawn to professional teams in the NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL. Watching polo was like viewing a weird sideshow. It was challenging to process the action. The shots, the fouls, the arcane rules (why is a defender’s field block out of bounds treated differently than a goalie’s?).
But, I was captivated by the sport’s intensity. Having first seen polo in the claustrophobic confines of the St. Francis Brooklyn athletic facility, four stories below the street in Brooklyn Heights, I immediately became a Terrier fan. How could one not be impressed by these athletes who did amazing things with a ball in the water—and could give as much as they got when things got physical?
I had decided I would follow the 2012 SFC team as far as it would go, which ultimately was the 2012 NCAA Final Four at what was then known as the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium on the USC campus.
[At N.C.A.A. Tournament, a Splash From Brooklyn, by Way of Europe]
When I went to cover Easterns in November of 2012, I foolishly expected the red-hot Terriers would march to a title. I didn’t account for Mercyhurst or Curtis Robinette, the Lakers’ youthful coach.
I did interview Coach Robinette after the match; it was my first and only encounter with the Lakers’ leader, who unexpectedly passed away last week.
[American Water Polo Community Mourns Passing of Curtis Robinette, Mercyhurst Water Polo Coach]
The SFC match against Mercyhurst was a revelation to me for a couple of reasons. First, Easterns were held at Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool. It was the best polo pool I had seen, and game play was entirely different from the “bathtub” the Terriers played in at home. Second, the stakes—and intensity—was much higher, which was reflected in the contests and the crowd. I had shouted “defense” many a time at basketball games but it would not have occurred to me to do so during polo matches.
The author (far left) and his family at the 2012 Eastern Championships
Third was the variety of teams at Easterns. Before the split of the CWPA men’s bracket into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Water Polo Conference in 2016, as many as 12 teams would descend upon a site with one emerging two days later as the East’s representative in the National Championship tournament. What could be better than that?
[From The Vault: St. Francis Scratches Out 12-11 Win over Cinderella Mercyhurst in 2012 Easterns]
Nine years later, this match still satisfies. The Lakers played their collective hearts out but fell just short to a talented Terrier squad. Rewatching the SFC comeback, I am reminded of what Bosko Stankovic, the Terriers’ great set, told me about the 2011 Eastern semifinals, when two late five meter penalties drew Princeton even at 11 late in the match, leading to a 13-11 Tiger OT victory. Stankovic was convinced that St. Francis, which had won Easterns in 2010, was denied a second-straight title by the officials.
I’m sure that was on the minds of the SFC players when they were tied with Mercyhurst late in that 2012 semifinal.
One other point about this match; in the middle of the second period, Vuk Vujosevic, who remains one of my all-time favorite Terriers, emerged from the water on the fans’ side immediately after scoring an important goal. I will never forget his gesture to the assembled St. Francis faithful, who roared their approval. I thought right then: this is a sport for me.
And it has been ever since.