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The Crab People of
Monmouth’s water polo team are heading to the national competition
this Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3-4. On Saturday, Oct. 13, the
Crab People placed third out of eight teams at the Heartland
Division Championship in Winona, Minn.
Entering the
tournament, the Crab People were seeded fourth, but they finished
with a strong third. They defeated Macalester College, Knox and
St. Mary’s but were defeated by Grinell.
Sophomore Joe Moran
scored ten of the 21 goals for Monmouth. Sophomore Chris McLoyd
played great defense in the net, not letting in a single goal.
Sophomore Matt Travnik was named player of the week for the
Heartland Division.
Co-captain of the
Crab People, junior Eric Pavlacka said, “To make it to nationals
is a great accomplishment to make. Just to make it to Nationals is
amazing, regardless of how we finish.”
However, the Crab
People are hoping to finish in the top four. They are seeded at
eighth of eight teams and will play two games on Saturday and
another on Sunday. Their first game is against University of
Illinois-Chicago, and the Crab People are looking for a victory.
They were defeated
by University of Illinois-Chicago in a previous unofficial game.
Typically, only the top two teams qualify for the national
tournament, but another team was unable to attend so Monmouth was
able to compete.
The national
competition will be hosted by Lindenwood University in St. Charles
Minn.
Monmouth’s board of
directors is also responsible for the success of the Crab People,
by heavily supporting this club sport. This is the first official
season for the polo team, and they have certainly made it a very
successful season. According to sophomore Joe Moran, only half of
the starting players played in high school.
This winter break,
Moran and Pavlacka will be touring high schools to recruit players
for next year’s season. Freshman Lindsay Duvick is also very
pleased to be playing for the Crab People this year. She said,
“From playing all four years in high school, I’m playing the best
I’ve ever played. It is an amazing difference; the way we play
together is incredible.”
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