An understaffed Binghamton University water polo club trekked to West Point Military Academy over the weekend for CWPA’s New York Division Crossover Tournament.

With most members of BU’s team suffering from sickness and, in the case of senior point Nicholas Drohan, injury, the Bearcats found themselves entering West Point’s Arvin Cadet Physical Development Center with only nine players capable of taking the water. In other words, the team was armed with only its starting six, the backup goal keeper and two subs against the likes of Army, Columbia and NYU, three of the top teams within the division.

Regardless of the lack of roster size, the Bearcats impressed many on hand.

‘It was the best tournament I’ve seen played by your school [Binghamton] in years,’ said Army’s head coach Matt Price.

Continued offensive consistency coming from senior David Bohr and junior Michael Ryan, along with rookie Caleb DeGroote, who added another goal to his season, kept the Bearcats competitive in every game played this weekend. Meanwhile, the team’s stellar defensive performance worked as damage control, not allowing the fact that starting goalie Deniz Pehlivan was unable to travel with the team this weekend become a deciding factor.

The team will be working on correcting the wavering focus displayed in the first half of its matchup against RPI, which led the team to look up at an eight-goal deficit. Even though the Bearcats suffered a 13-11 loss against a team that they should have defeated at RPI, the monumental comeback combined with the fact the team was so undersized had team morale at an all-time high.

BU water polo will look to impress at the New York Division Championships being held at Colgate University over the weekend of Oct. 20, 2007.