11-04-2024 12:25am

Historic Weekend for Saline Water Polo Squad

The Saline men’s water polo team made history at the Michigan Water Polo Association Regional Tournament this weekend. For the first time, the team advanced to the state tournament, which will be held November 15-16 in Hudsonville.

Saline will be the #4 seed from the East Regional, after a hard-fought, one-goal loss to Ann Arbor Huron on Saturday afternoon. The Hornets punched their ticket to States on Friday night with a 16-11 win over Birmingham Groves.

“This season has been a complete 180 from last season,” said Coach Chris Stankovic. “We had one of our worst seasons in history last year, with fewer than 10 wins. We now have nearly 30 wins, and the best record in school history.”

Senior co-captains Jonah Bentley and AJ Hayes led the Hornets with 10 goals each on the weekend, including five for Bentley and four for Hayes in the must-win-to-advance game against Groves on Friday. Junior Sean Spooner notched nine goals, including four against Groves.

Freshman Carson Ratajczak had four goals during the weekend, and Jacob Clauser, a junior, scored three. Gabriel Romero (junior), Carson Wood (sophomore), and freshmen Cooper Jansma and Ellis Wensuc also scored for the Hornets.

The weekend also saw individual milestones.

Bentley logged his 200th goal of the season, shattering the previous single-season record of 116. Spooner, who reached the 100-goal benchmark recently, now sits at 115 goals on the season. Hayes, Saline’s all-time leader in assists, scored his 100th goal of the season on Saturday.

While Bentley, Hayes, and Spooner have led the scoring, Stankovic pointed to the holistic team effort as a key to this season’s success.

“The team has worked really well together all year, and that was clearly evident in the regional tournament,” he said. “The team also works the ball around very well, and we lean on our younger and less-experienced players, who have been great contributors straight out of the gate.”

Looking ahead to States, “This team has always had the ‘why not us’ mentality,” Stankovic said. “They know each team has to have a winner, so why not us? They are extremely excited for the state tournament and will be working their butts off to get ready for it.”