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Game Summaries- Archive

Kirkwood Pioneer Water Polo

Game Summary- Archive 2006, 2007

2007 Season

South Slams KHS.

Varsity 0-4.

A brutal loss to a good team. KHs continues to struggle to develop a powerful offense that can generate goals and protect itself on TOs. The squad fought well for most of the game, but drops in focus and poor handling errors gave a gritty and combative South too many attacking chances. Our 2M continue to develop in this position and the attacking swim through is slowly growing as the team still figures out how to play as a unit. Better defense, but we still allow too many goals.

JV 2-1

Jv continue to power their opponents with their size and speed. Few teams will match Kundert's squad in these 2 areas. The squad was mostly in control of the game. They kept the score closer than they should have with handling errors, but their speed gave the team a solid buffer. Another solid win for the team. Wickerhauser continues to grow as the goalie with some excellent saves. Austin and Brananm both show tremendous confidence with their shooting. A solid win.

SLUH 12 KHS 1

SLUH pounded KHS early in the 1st Q with 6 quick goals ending any hope of a close game. Their speed, power, and skill was totally impressive and destructive. KHS was unable to break a devastating press that reduced the team to 1 goal. KHS was also unable to match up against a mobile and intelligent offence that had multiple inside water breaks on every attack. Andy K was awesome in goal with huge saves.

Chaminade 12 KHS 2

After a solid practice the team looked much sharper in the first 2 Qs of the game. We out shot Chaminade 5-1 in the 2Qs, but the shots all fell short. Colleen was impressive in set as she dominated and shot at will. The shots will come soon. However, a terrible few minutes before the half allowed Chaminade to score 5 goals which ended the teams chance for a win. This was clearly a much better performance for the team as they strive to get stronger as a group.

JV 1-1

Sluh jv 16 Khs jv 2

A tough way to start the season for a very young squad. The team was also out played in every aspect of the game. Sluh steal and counter strategy took the team apart from the very start.

Chaminade 8 KHS 9

An excellent performance. The lead changed 3 times before the team won on the buzzer. Jv has some awesome power shooters which can make all the difference at this level. With Wickerhauser in goal, the team has a real chance of winning their conference. Coach Kundert was very pleased with the efforts of all his players who worked hard together for the win.

 

 

2005/2006 Season

Ladue Rams Crumble 17-7  Varsity Report: Sept 6

A dominating performance by the Pioneers. The team attacked the Rams from the start with some blistering counters and fast breaks. We were able to score some spectacular goals in the first Q. The team's defense is much improved from the South game. Everyone pressed more aggressively and made their physical presence felt on the perimeter. Also, more players got involved in the offensive setup. The only down side was in the 6 ejection’s we created. Players were positioned out of place which allowed them to be ejected. Kickouts do not happen by chance. They happen because players stop thinking. Of the 6 man downs, we only stopped 4! This is a clear weak area for the team.

KHS Downs Desmet 11-10  Sept 7

 WOW! We knew this was going to be tight game. The team played an amazing press defense in the 1st Q and led 4-1. All goals came from fast breaks as a result of intense pressure on the perimeter. But then the team as a whole lost focus. We allowed Demet to score 5 easy goals to our 2. The battle for 3rd Q domination was won be neither with both sides scoring a goal each. The 4th Q was a critical moment as key players stepped up. Eric scored 2 massive goals to help the team take the lead. Mark had  7 great goals with help from Tim and David. On a positive, our 6 v 5 look much better with more confident passing/ shooting. However, we had 7 man downs. This is too many. This game should never have been this close. Butt he man downs and a loss of focus in the 2nd Q made this game harder than it should have been.

Pioneers to Play for Conference Championship.

Round 1- KHS 12- West 4

Round 2- KHS 9 Lafayette 8

Another close win for the team. After an easy win over West, the team faced a tenacious Lancer squad that would not let up their attacks.

West was a fun game as everyone played well. The team was too big and fast for West. The defense was strong for the most part. However, the elusive shot-out still eludes the team.

Lafayette was a much tougher team. KHS did well to hang in there to the end, but too many silly errors caused us problems.

The team started with a terrible 7 minutes of play by allowing the Lancers to score 3 goals. We played much better in the 2nd Q and began to drift away with a comfortable approach to the game. Defensively we held them to only 3 goals in the 2nd and 3rd Q. However, the disastrous 4th Q allowed the Lancers to close the gap to 1 goal with 22 seconds left.

We cannot afford this drop in concentration as we play Lindbergh for the conference title. 3 areas will be key to our victory Saturday night- few kick outs, convert our 6 v 5’s, and a suffocating defense. Without these three components, we will have a hard time beating Lindbergh.

KHS- 2005 Conference Champions

KHS 8-  Lindbergh 6

AWSOME! What a great performance by the team. The squad played a disciplined defense against a strong Flyers group and took their time on the offensive side of the pool. The key to the game lay in the low numbers of turnovers, few KO, and a variety of shooters putting pressure on a strong Lindbergh goalie.

We knew this was going to be a close game with only a goal separating the teams for the most part. We also knew Lindbergh was short in their bench and that if we kept the game close we could out swim them in the 4th Q with our subs.

With 4 powerful shooters, the Flyers were always threat on offense. But KHS played a smart drop that foiled most of their threats in the set. This allowed us to counter hard for most of the game. The fatigue began to show in the 3rd Q as the Flyers struggled to gain the momentum. The 4th is where KHS extended their lead to 2 goals (the most for the game). Canon is the MVP as he scored 2 great shots to set us up for the win. Pautler was astounding in goal with 17 saves. 

The keys to the win are easy to see- the team communicated with each other, they reduced their turnovers and created turnovers ( Berkley had 4!), and they took their time on offense.  However, the team is going to have to work on setting the 2M up better.  Without effectiver use of our 2Ms, we will always have low KO chances. 

Conference Champs and Founders Cup Champs!

SLUH Ends Undefeated Record

KHS JV-  5    SLUH JV  13

KHS 5     SLUH  8

JV Report:

After a promising first half, the JV squad lost 2 key players that allowed the SLUH power train to roll over them. With Clay and Lischwe jr. out, the KHS bench was not able to answer for their shooting power. A great defensive 1Q was followed by too many errors in passing. Good teams like SLUH will capitalize on these errors and counter hard. Offensively, the team had shooting chances, but they were lost with low percentage shots. This is only the 2nd game of the season for the JV so one would expect mistakes. They now have 4 games next week to begin the process of improving.

Varsity Report:

Playing against strong teams really helps identify our weaknesses. This is what SLUH did for KHS. Without a strong 2M to create ejection’s, the squad will always struggle in the close games as the man up conversions are critical to wins. In addition, with 10 ejections of their own, almost all in the set, the team will continue to struggle to put these close games away.

After an awesome 1st half, the score was a goal each. The team was a defensive monster with intelligent and aggressive plays by all that kept SLUH out of scoring position. Offensively, the team was creative and forward thinking in their approach. But a weak 3rd Q allowed SLUH 5 goals, of which 3 came from man up situations. This is where we lost the game- 3 goals because of ejections in the set. In the 4th Q the team gave up another goal because of yet another ejection.

The team is on the verge of being a player for the final 4. We are very strong defensively for about ¾ of the game, and we are 2-3 players away from have strong outside shooters. But the team will need to develop a much stronger 2M play system that allows more ejection’s and a front court offence and maintain discipline in the later stages of the game to reduce ejection’s.

Pioneers Defeat Marquette and Ladue

JV Reports:

KHS 6 Marquette 5

An awesome come from behind win for the Pioneers as they won their first conference game of the season. A weak start allowed a fast Marquette team to take a 3-1 lead. The team regrouped at the half for a stellar offensive performance to win 6-5. The defense was solid in the 3rd as the team made steals that lead to decisive counters.

KHS 12 Ladue 2

An easy win as the team out played the Rams in every aspect of the game. The team was too fast and strong. Once again, the defense was the key to the win. Steals and turnovers allowed KHS to attack on a consistent level. The continuos pressure paid with some fantastic goals.

Varsity Report:

KHS 7- Marquette 5

A tougher game than it should have been. The team lead 5-3 at the half with an average performance. Offensively, we continue to rely too much on player. More key players need to make their presence felt, heard, and claimed during the game. With a key shooter ejected for the game at the 1/2 the team had to regroup. The defense only allowed 2 goals in the 2nd half while scoring 2. A key weakness still lies in our ejection count. We had 8!!! with only 2 of our own. Most were for holding the set or swimming on backs.  Players need to create an awareness of their position. 

KHS 10 Ladue 4

After a horrendous start, the team battled to exert their dominance on a much smaller team. We played to their level and allowed the Rams to even the score early in the game. The 3rd Q saw a much stronger performance, as players became more urgent in the attacks. Defensively we were strong. We still gave up 5 ejections while only creating 2 of our own. We must be better

West Gets Walloped by Both Squads.

JV report: KHS 12- West 4

A comprehensive win against our rival conference team. The team took a 4-0 start and never looked back. Many opportunities were created from counters, which were the result of solid defense. By creating numerous turnovers, KHS was able to attack consistently and find many open players. Passing was solid for the most part with the team keeping their turnovers low. One area of concern lies in the crowding of the set. This is compounded by 2M who consistently pick up the ball from the top. While weak defender may not cause too many problems with this elementary error, good 2M Defenders will shut down our sets. A solid win for the team.

Varsity Report: KHS 11- West 5

Our strategy of subduing west worked for the first half. With a score of 6-1, the team was clearly dominating West in every aspect of the game. Our press was suffocating them as we created many turnovers that lead to many fast breaks. An issue that needs to be corrected is the lack of communication on the ball side drivers. If they don't call for the ball, they lose their advantage. Mindless errors in the 3rd Q allowed a depleted West team to inch into range. Why do we kill ourselves in the 3rd? The team regrouped to shut out West in the 4th. We are using our 2M more and creating more offensive chances from that area. We even converted 2 of our 6 v 5s! A good game to prepare for our biggest battle- Lindbergh on Friday.

Kirkwood Crumbles Against Lindbergh

JV Report: KHS 8- Lindbergh 11

The team started out so strongly. They attacked, they defended, they countered. The first half was theirs as they dominated the Flyers in what looked like an easy victory. But a low scoring 3rd Q and a terrible defensive 4th allowed the Flyers to steal what should have been an easy victory. The Flyers scored 4 unanswered goals in the 4th to seal the Conference win. The defense decided to sleep in the second half, which only made matters worse through the ejections the team created by attacking players during dead time. With the JV season drawing to a close, the team must step up their focus if they wish to win their Conference.

Varsity report: KHS 8- Lindbergh 10

A well deserved loss. This is the worst performance from the team this season. KHS produced horrendous defense both in the field and in goal, an elementary counter with no organization, and an invisible offense that was never in a position to score. As the season enters its critical stage in terms of who we have to play and seeding results, KHS has clearly gone backwards in all aspects of the game. With a fired up Lafayette team to be faced on Monday, KHS players will have to look hard at themselves as players if they want to beat this gritty and skilled team.

Kirkwood Defeat Lafayette.

JV Report KHS 12- Lafayette 6

An easy game for the team. They rebounded from the bad loss to Lindbergh. The Lancers did not have the size or skill to compete with the team. Once again a suffocating defense allowed KHS to steal and attack. Many solid goals from the fastbreaks allowed the team to establish a dominating score early on in the game. A solid performance.

Varsity Report: KHS 9 Lafayette 8.

A great performance by the team. After the dismal game against Lindbergh, the team produced a solid 1st Q performance. The defense was much better as we held their top players to a low percentage position. We were able to create great outside shots- finally. This should allow us to be more productive on the drops. We still need to develop our ball side drives as we try to become more 3D in our attack. This is the game we needed as we prepare for the huge weekend.

KHS 3rd Seed! 

The area coaches were impressed enough with the team's performance to give KHS the 3rd seed going into district play.  Our first game will be against the  Marqutte Mustangs. 

Congratulations to the varsity for a great regular season effort.  Let's get ready for our 2nd season-  Districts.

For the full brackets go to www.mowaterpolo.com.

 Pioneers End Regular Season on High Note.

This has been a very successful campaign for the teams this year. They have ended the first part of the season with some great displays of defense and energetic attacks against the number 1 ranked Chaminade. 

Now the teams prepare for their 2nd season- Districts for Varsity and Conference for JV.

This is the whole reason behind our practices. You have pushed yourselves to become better players for the games during the next few weeks. Your team records from this point on are meaningless. What counts is how the teams do from now.  Lose 1 game and the season ends.

For JV, nothing less than a conference title should be accepted. You have played the best in the conference and beaten them all. Lindbergh was the only loss- but KHS dominated them for 3Q's. If each player demands nothing less than a championship, it will happen.

For Varsity, nothing short of a Final 4 appearance will be accepted. We should all expect to play on Nov 5th. With a little luck and a massive amount of work we should play in the championship game. Expect it; demand it, work for it...and it will happen.

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