With an overall record of 27-6, the 2016 Men’s Water Polo team has had a generally successful season with a few setbacks, according to Head Coach David Lieberman.

Senior captain Tommy Hagerty acknowledges the positivity in this season versus previous years.

“It was overall the best season we’ve had in years,” Hagerty said. “I had the most fun this year with this team [out of my] four years. We had some ups and downs and problems, but it was always fun, and I know the guys next year are motivated to [go] further [in playoffs.]”

According to Lieberman, the Titan’s dynamic was rocky throughout the season, but the men pulled it together for the last couple of games for their post-season.

“We got a lot better as we got into the post-season,” Lieberman said. “The guys really started to play and work together much better and really started to buy into what we were trying to do, especially defensively.”

In addition to Lieberman, Hagerty believes the game against New Trier was the their best game.

“[Our] team chemistry wobbled up and down throughout the season, but for that last game, it was better than it ever was,” Hagerty said.

According to Lieberman, the last game the men played was against one of their toughest rivals, New Trier, for the Sectional title on May 14.

“Unfortunately, we came out one goal short against New Trier where we lost 8-7, I think that was probably our best game all around,” Lieberman said. “New Trier has beaten us pretty easily the first couple times we had played them, and we needed a much better game, and we got it. Even though we came up short, we showed that we can play with those guys.”

In regards to the final score, the Titans were upset due to the preparation they went through to get to this point of their season, according to Hagerty.

“[My team and I] were pretty devastated,” Hagerty said. “We had prepared for that game all year to get to state and to lose it by that little against a team that had dominated us all year was tough to face.”

According to Lieberman, besides the loss against New Trier, the men defeated Loyola twice this year in their regular-season games.

“I think both of our games versus Loyola [were great],” Lieberman said. “Defensively, we did a great job against them. We played them earlier in the year, [and] we beat them 6-3. Then we played them at Sectionals and beat them 6-2.”

Similar to Lieberman, Hagerty was very proud of the team’s perseverance during both games against Loyola and was happy with each outcome.

“[Those games were] incredible,” Hagerty said. “We had never beaten Loyola in my time at GBS, but this year, they never scored a goal that wasn’t a penalty shot in either game. It showed us how good we actually were in the State because they were a top 10 team all year.”

Despite losing four seniors and three key players, Lieberman is hopeful for next season and for other juniors to step up and take on the leadership roles on the team. According to Lieberman, some of those juniors include Jack Wells, Tucker Nienhaus and Richard Poma.