On April 28, the Pattonville Water Polo Team hosted their Senior Night against the Desmet Spartans. They suffered a loss of 24-9.

The seniors were Joel Bonham, Andrew Hartmann, Isaiah Loparco, Daniel Mamrenko, Seth McVicar, Miles Moeller, Ty Procter, Aiden Randell, Isaac Reddy, Michael Steinbecker, and Griffin Taylor.

During halftime, the seniors were recognized as they did a walkthrough with their families. Coach Crockett announced each senior player, their favorite memory of Water Polo, and their plans after high school.

For Captain Daniel Mamrenko, his best moment of the senior night game was the third quarter of the game.

“We were on offense, and one of their players got ejected and the coach called a timeout,” he said. “We started with the ball with one man up. Slowly pushing into the goal, I saw a perfect opportunity for a shot and I took it.”

For goalie Isaiah Loparco, his favorite moment was “definitely the senior night ceremony at halftime.”

Seniors typically feel compelled to do well at the senior game.

“There is always pressure to do well,” Mamrenko said. “After being involved in something for that long, your standards for yourself go up, and your coach expects more from you.”

“It didn’t come from other people,” Loparco added. “I put the pressure on myself because there was a big crowd and it felt like this was my time to prove myself or not.”

Many thoughts go through an athlete’s head during a game. For Mamrenko, he knew “we were playing a very good team, although it was intimidating, you need to focus on yourself, doing your part within the team. Communication is also a very important aspect in the game.”

As a goalie, Loparco had other thoughts in mind. “Desmet had a lot of strong shooters and a fast offense, so I really had to make sure I was focused and gave it my best effort to shut them down,” he said.

“I was really looking forward to playing Desmet again. I always like a challenge, so playing them was definitely something I was looking forward to,” Mamrenko said.

Going against local teams may be intimidating but also gives motivation for teams to try their best. “They [Desmet] are one of the best teams in the area, so naturally I was pretty nervous. I wanted to show the team and myself just how capable of a goalie I can be, even against tough competition,” Loparco said.

Coach Crockett watched closely and said he noticed “just a number of fundamental skills I wanted to yell across the pool.”

Crockett said, “I think they did a good job running the offense we made for the night and I think they did a good job with defense because of the opposing team. We got beat in transition between offense and defense, that’s the biggest weakness we saw.”

Even for experienced players, improving is a continual process. “There are always problems with the decisions we make. We could have worked a little harder and some of the outcomes could have been different,” Crockett explained.

Senior night is a special time to honor the seniors but just like most games, there is one highlight that always stands out. “I think every game the highlight is our goalie Isaiah Loparco- he’s able to get on his legs and make some saves- otherwise, things would be difficult,” Crockett said.

Although the team did not make it to Districts or any championship games after the regular season, they did have some major wins during the season as a whole with a record of 5-12.