PERFECTION IN THE POOL: The Dr. Phillips boys water polo team is one of the final four

The Dr. Phillips boys water polo team ended their regular season with an undefeated record of 29-0.

“It’s amazing; I didn’t really expect it,” team captain and senior Liam Ortiz said. “I thought at least we’d lose one time, but we have that score showing we never lost, and that’s pretty incredible.”

The team’s perfect record in 2022 topped DP’s previous winning streak — 14-0, which it set in 2012. Assistant coach Evan Staton was a part of the team when that streak was set and is now enjoying an undefeated record with his alma mater as one of the team’s coaches. 

“It’s unbelievable; 14-0 is hard on itself, considering you are playing teams from all over the state, teams that are good,” he said. “Twenty-nine-and-0 is so remarkable; it’s impossible to stumble your way into 29 wins and zero losses. It doesn’t accidentally happen, so the team is doing something right together. This is definitely earned.” 

Through this 2022 season, the Panthers have relied on experience and team chemistry. 

“They’ve been around each other for a really long time, so most of them are very good friends,” head coach Leonardo Ramirez said. “They have each other’s backs in and out, and they are all at such a high level. … They end up pushing each other a lot in practice, and that helps, so practices are never dull. There’s always competition in practice, because they are always trying to beat each other, and, by doing that, they become better and better.”

Nine of the 14 boys on the team are seniors. Brady Kossoff and Aiden Abayasekera also serve as captains. 

“A lot of us are leaders, and we respect one another,” Abayasekera said. “I’m always trying to teach the younger players how to get better, what mistakes they’ve made, what they can do to improve and just kind of literally trying to boost their confidence. That’s one thing that I was shown as a younger player — to have confidence in oneself — and that’s something that I try to show everyone.” 

Sophomore Ryan Tannus was a key player April 12 at the team’s last game against Boone High School. He was named player of the game after scoring five goals.

“I’ve never really scored that many, and I did really (well) that game,” he said. “It felt really good.” 

THE ROAD TO PERFECTION

However, despite all the wins, there has been some challenges the team has had to overcome this year. 

“There’s been times when I feel like they were getting a little out of their heads,” Ramirez said. “I think that’s been the biggest coaching challenge this year — making sure that they are ready for every game. I feel like every team that we’ve played gave us their best game. And we weren’t always necessarily ready to take everybody’s best game.” 

The biggest growth the team has shown has been understanding that every game is important and that, when a team is good, other teams will prepare to face it.

“Trying to get them to understand that was a little difficult,” Ramirez said. “But I think they understand (now), and I don’t think I’ll have to worry about them for the Final Four. They understand that there’s two games left, and we are going to get the best out of anybody that’s out there.”

Not all games were easy. A good number of the games were close until the last three to four minutes. 

“I’d say a lot of us really know that in those close game moments, we needed to keep our calm and do what we know to do best, and that’s to put the game away in the end,” Abayasekera said. 

THE ROAD AHEAD

The Panthers made it to the Final Four last year but lost during the final game against Gulliver Preparatory School. It was a heartbreaking way to end the season, and the boys don’t want to feel that again.

“We all put in all the work these past few years getting ready, and now we’ve just come together as one,” Kossoff said. 

Staton, who played Division I water polo at Pepperdine University, was trained by former Olympics coach Terry Schroeder.

“I get in the water with them every day,” he said. “The swim sets I give them at the beginning of practice are those I received at college. I train them like college athletes not like high-schoolers.” 

The team’s main rival this season was Olympia High School, which was ranked No. 3 in the state (the Panthers were ranked No. 2).

“Every time we played them, it was a matchup of top-three teams playing,” Ramirez said. “The games where I feel that both teams showed up and left everything they had in the water because it wasn’t just about the game, it was about the rivalry. A lot of them are friends now, it wasn’t always like that in the past with them, and even though they are friendly outside, once they are in the pool, they weren’t very friendly. But they were hugging each other after the games, which shows the spirit of the sport.”

HELP THE PANTHERS

DP will face St. Thomas Aquinas Friday, April 22, at the 2022 FHSAA Water Polo State Tournament Semifinals at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in Miami. The Panthers are raising funds to cover the expenses of the trip. 

“The athletic department is helping us out a lot, but we needed to raise a little bit more money to try to get some of the pressure off  and not demand so much from the school,” Ramirez said. “Everything is more expensive now, and I feel like every dollar that has come in has gone out one way or another.” 

If you’d like to help the team to get to the state championships, you can donate here.