Cats Take 1st, 2nd, and 4th

Jungle Cat Water Polo controlled the Summer 2008 A League Tournament, capturing first, second, and fourth places.

In the first semifinal, the Lions defeated SLAP by forfeit. A game was played, though, as the SLAP roster was supplemented nicely with William Page and Mike Sizemore, Jungle Cats playing in the Open League. Despite sloppy defense and poor shooting, the Lions held on for a 7-6 win. Player of the Game Will Derdeyn notched two goals and a handful of steals.

In the second semifinal, the Leopards overwhelmed Mad Dog 12-4. Per usual, Steve Sigman took care of the offense, while Marty Ruzicka and Danny Faust keyed the defense. But Jack Buelter's contributions at both ends of the pool earned him Player of the Game honors.

The Lions and Leopards then faced off for the championship. Aided by Kenny Champion's two goals, the Lions clung to a late lead until ringer William Page scored for the Leopards with 10 seconds remaining to send the game to a sudden victory period. On the first possession, John Lewis found the upper corner from seven yards out for the Golden Goal, securing the championship as well as the Player of the Game award.

Finally, the Tigers swam against Mad Dog for fourth place, as Daisy backed out of the last set of games. With no substitutes and Kitten Michael Sigman in the lineup, Parker Finlinson scored a preposterous ten goals in a 15-4 pounding. The lone disappointment of the evening was that with better attendance last week, the Tigers could have played for third place and a sweep of the top three spots.

Still, Jungle Cat Water Polo proudly boasts three of the top four Varsity level teams, two competitive JV level teams, and the best middle school team. Thank you, players and coaches, for a dominant summer! I hope we have the chance to work together again during our winter session, beginning in early November.

Coach Baud

JO Blog (Day 4, Summary): Cats Finish 4-4 in Gold Bracket, Finish 13th

First off, we did feel the earthquake that hit Southern California. We were traveling between pools and were in the parking lot of Yogurtland. Everyone is safe and there was no damage that we saw along the way.

The Jungle Cats finished their 2008 National Junior Olympic experience today in grand fashion, winning both games they played and finishing 13th in the Gold Bracket (37th overall).

Win vs. Santa Barbara, 9-6
The Cats erupted in the first game of the day against an overmatched SBWPC club. John Savio's 3 goals paced the offense and Trent Going added a pretty counter-attack goal in the 3rd quarter that seemed to push the Cats over the edge. Savio's 3 goals were good enough to earn him POTG.

Full Stats: Sizemore (2A), Maloney (A), Going (G), Page (G), O'Neill (G), Savio (3G), Heafner (2G), Stipanovich (G), Derdeyn (A), Schnoring (2A), Hohenberger (11 saves on 17 shots)


Win vs. Great Lakes, 3-2
In a defensive struggle throughout, the Cats managed to win a tight game against fellow Midwest Zone team Great Lakes (MI). The team had several scoring chances that they were unable to capitalize on, but a typically stellar defensive effort from The Mikes (O'Neill & Sizemore) completely shut down the Great Lake-ians, who only had 1 goal until late in the 4th quarter. One last defensive stand with under 30 seconds left sealed the deal for the Cats. The team drew 3 5M penalty shots and convertered 2 of them (by Kyle Schnoring). John Heafner contributed the other goal. Schnoring's hard day at the office (2 shots, both goals, both penalty shots) earned him POTG.

Full Stats: Heafner (G), Schnoring (2G), Hohenberger (12 saves on 14 shots, 1 A)


Overall, it was a terrific 4 days of competition. The team bonded throughout the week and have definitely improved...and seen the way that top-flight water polo teams play in California. While I was surprised by our inability to score at times, I was pleasantly surprised that our defense was able to press for 99% of the time out here and not get burned. This is a real testament to all of our 2M guards (O'Neill, Sizemore, Going, Derdeyn) as well as the other players for making sure that we had the proper defensive match-ups we wanted. Overall, The Mikes performance earned them co-runners up of the tournament. Matt Hohenberger, who finished with 76 saves and made 3 saves on 5 total penalty shots, was named player of the game for his dominant play in the final 3 games (all wins).

Thanks so much for following the blog. Hopefully you've really enjoyed keeping up with the boys' progress and thanks for your support of Jungle Cat WP. See you all soon!


-jp
(1901)

JO Blog (Day 3, Summary): Cats Go 1-2 in Long Day of Action

The Jungle Cats played 3 totally different games in a long day of action in Southern California.

8-7 loss vs. Davis
The Cats got down early, fought back to tie it and eventually take the lead, and eventually lost on a late 5-on-6 situation. William Page was named POTG for his aggressive offensive plays.

Full Stats: Sizemore (G), Maloney (G), Going (G), Page (G, A), Savio (G), Heafner (G), Derdeyn (3A), Stipanovich (2A), Schnoring (G), Hohenberger (3 saves on 11 shots)


14-8 loss vs. San Diego Shores 'B'
The Cats suffered their first blowout defeat at the hands of a talented, fast Shores team that was able to dominate JCWP in almost every facet of the game. John Heafner was named POTG for his hat-trick effort.

Full Stats: Sizemore, Maloney, Schnoring (G each), Heafner (3G), Derdeyn (G, A), Hohenberger (5 saves on 19 shots, A)


9-5 win vs. Rockford
Finally, in the nightcap for the Cats, the team broke through with a convincing victory against fellow Midwest zone team Rockford. The Cats were again down after the first quarter, but tied it at 4 by halftime, then used a 3 minute offensive explosion in the 3rd quarter to put the game away. John Heafner & Matt Stipanovich led the team with 3 goals each, but Matt Hohenberger's play in goal -- which included 2 blocked 5M penalty shots -- earned him the POTG honors.

Full Stats: Sizemore (G, A), Maloney (G), Going (A), Page (2A), Heafner (3G), Derdeyn (A), Stipanovich (3G, A), Schnoring (G), Hohenberger (7 saves on 12 shots, A)

Last Week

Cubs, your last game is tonight at 7:30 PM at Marquette High School. And, since you did not get to practice on Thursday, you are welcome to (and encouraged to!) attend tomorrow's practice. Details are below.

Varsity players, the facilities director at Chaminade just told me that the pool is up and running. So there is one practice, tonight and tomorrow night, at Chaminade from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. As further incentive to attend, I hope to have your T-shirts. And if you have not yet paid for your suit, please bring $30 cash or a check made out to John Penilla.

The games Wednesday are at Marquette High School. The schedule is below.

6:45 PM Lions vs. SLAP
7:35 PM Leopards* vs. Mad Dog
8:25 PM Winner of 6:45 PM game vs. Winner of 7:35 PM game (1st place game)
9:15 PM Mad Dog* vs. Tigers (5th place game)

*Leopards, if you lose at 7:35 PM, you might play at 9:15 PM in place of Mad Dog.

Thanks for your passion for water polo all summer, and thanks for your patience these last two weeks.

Coach Baud

JO Blog (Day 3, Pt. 3): Navy Torpedoes Jungle Cats

The Cats lost 12-8 to Navy, who employed a strong press defense that shut down the Cats' 2M-men during the first half. William Page broke through for 2 goals and was named POTG.

We play Davis at 8:40 tomorrow. We still have a chance to finish high here if we can piece a few more things together.

Sorry for the weak post; I'm exhausted.

Full Statistics:
Sizemore (G, 2A), Going (A), Page (2G, A), O'Neill (2G), Heafner (G, A), Derdeyn (G), Schnoring (G)

Chicago Cats Lose in Championship

The Jungle Cats at the Midlothian Tournament took 2nd place honors against P.O.W. It was a hard fought battle with the Cats leading in the 4th quarter 8-4. Due to some minor miscues and interesting calls team P.O.W crawled back to tie the game with 35 seconds left. The Cats coaching staff would have preferred overtime but due to the lateness of the game the tournament director decided to have a shootout. Though the Cats had been defeated they had to battle through many adverse conditions. As someone was quoted as saying..."its a different game up in Chicago." I hope to continue to bring teams to Chicago in the future so we can flex our muscle.

-Charlie

JO Blog (Day 3, Pt. 2) - Fatigued Cats Lose to LAWPC

A tired bunch of Jungle Cats fought hard, through a difficult opponent and questionable officiating, but ultimately came up short against LAWPC in an 8-3. The team will likely play tonight at 8:20 at Capistrano Valley HS. POTG: Michael O'Neill

Full Statistics:
Page, O'Neill, Savio (G each) & Heafner, Derdeyn, Stipanovich (A each); Hohenberger (11 saves on 19 shots)

INJURY UPDATE
> Jack Meara remains in St. Louis, and is feeling better after suffering a concussion.

> Pat Maloney sustained a broken nose against Rosebowl and is suffering from some significant headaches. He has not played since the Rosebowl game and remains doubtful for the rest of the tournament.

> John Heafner is dealing with a recurrence of his headaches/earaches due to ear infections.

> Matt Hohenberger's knee seems to be pain free, and he showed no ill effects from a possible butt injury (seriously) sustained yesterday.

That's it for now. Thanks for following!

-jp
(1640)

JO Blog (Day 3, Pt. 1) - Cats Find the Win Column

The Jungle Cats came out firing against Trojan WP of LA, storming to a 5-2 halftime lead. The Trojans attempted comeback fell just short and the Cats escaped the pool with a 6-5 win.

Matt Hohenberger returned to his normally-impressive form, making 10 saves on 15 shots, and the Cats offense was clicking for most of the game. Though they were only able to score 1 goal in the 2nd half, the team did a great job picking it's spots either resting or trying to take offensive chances.

Full Statistics:
Sizemore (G,A), Page (G), Savio (G), Heafner (G, A), Stipanovich (2G), Schnoring (A), Hohenberger (10 saves on 15 shots, 2A)

-jp

Good Luck JO team from the cats in chicago

With all this blogging going on I thought I would add something from chicago. We are 3 and 0 in pool play and playing for the title at 715. They actually have a trophy here...we are impressed. Dan Goeddel, Parker Finlinson,and Steven Sigman have been leading the way for the cats. The cats stiffest competition came from St.Louis's own Parkway water polo club(unexpected). The cats dispatched of them 10 to 8, they beat Poseiden 15 to 5 and HF 14 to 7. We want to wish the JO team the best of luck!

JO Blog (Day 2, Pt. 2.2): Cats Finish Opening Round 0-2

Stanford White :: 6-3 loss
In the tournament opener for both teams, the Jungle Cats lost a hard fought battle against a solid Cardinal team, falling just short in their bid to beat the legendary club team from California. Matt Hohenberger turned in a heroic effort in goal, overcoming various muscle pains to make 8 saves on 14 shots, including a huge 5M penalty shot save. The Two Mikes, O'Neill & Sizemore, were absolutely shut-down hole defense guards as Stanford couldn't get any half court offensive rhythm going. Unfortunately, the Cats offense was anemic as well. Sizemore led the team with 2G, with Matt Stipanovich adding the other goal; John Heafner contributed an assist. POTG: Hohenberger

Rosebowl :: 16-10
A tight game turned into a blowout in the final minutes as the Cats fell again in their 2nd game of the day. The team played much better offensively, but fell victim to poor counter-attack defense, especially late in the game. The Mikes, along with friends Trent Going & Will Derdeyn, again combined to limit Rosebowl's half court offense. John Heafner played great, earning co-POTG honors, scoring 4 goals, adding an assist, and drawing numerous kickouts. Sizemore, Savio, Stipanovich, and O'Neill scored 1 tally each, with O'Neill's coming on a pretty 6-on-5 shot.

Total Stats: Sizemore (A), Page (2A), O'Neill (G, 2A), Savio (G), Heafner (4G, A), Derdeyn (2A), Stipanovich (Gordie Howe HT), Hohenberger (1 sv)

**For those following the schedule online, our new designation is AuB3. We will have 3 games tomorrow with the first two at 7AM and 10:20AM (again). The 3rd gametime depends on our record in the Gold Bracket.

JO Blog (Day 2, Pt. 1)

It's 5:48 in lovely Southern California. The game is in approximately 72 minutes. Thanks to Mrs. Hohenberger, breakfast is being served at 6 rather than 6:30 (at least for us).

The team should be ready to go. We had a nice team meeting last night, and the 3 prodigal Heafner sons arrived in grand fashion to the hotel around 10:30. It was quite a sight.

Wish us luck. Stanford White, he we come.


-jp

JO Blog (Day 1, Pt. 2) -- Settled in Irvine

The Jungle Cats landed safely (and early) at LAX around 10 AM PDT after a quick hop up from Phoenix. After boarding the Enterprise party van & getting set up with 2 dirty minivans, the team made the trek to Irvine, checked into the hotel, and ate some In-N-Out Burger. As if that wasn't enough, we celebrated Pat Maloney's birthday with a ridiculous, wedding-cake-style birthday cake. Since we were full, it make sense to make the 10 minute drive to play some beach volleyball at Newport Beach.

Some sad news to report: Jack Meara, who did not travel with the team because of a mild concussion (but was planning to come tomorrow), will miss Junior Olympics entirely because of a death in the Chaminade family. Obviously, we are thinking of Jack and the entire CCP family in their difficult time.

The game start tomorrow at 7. I'll update as I know it. You can also follow at either usawaterpolo.org or juniorolympics.com.

Thanks. And hang in their Jack.

-jp

JO Blog (Day 1): Cats land in phoenix unscathed; Savio has not stopped talking

JO Blog (Day 0): Stacked Cats look to make a splash at JO's

The 2008 edition of Jungle Cat Water Polo's Junior Olympic team departs for Irvine, CA in the morning looking to improve upon last year's 2-4 showing. This year's team, led by returning captain Mike Sizemore, is the strongest team that JCWP has ever sent to JO's, according to club founder Paul Baudendistel. Strongest on paper, that is. This year's team features the MO Water Polo Offensive Player of the Year (William Page), the MO Water Polo Defensive Player of the Year (Michael O'Neill), three 1st Team All-District selections (Page, John Heafner, Kyle Schnoring), and four 2nd Team All-District selections (Sizemore, O'Neill, Matt Stipanovich, Matt Hohenberger). And, the team represents a more diverse group, as the athletes hail from 5 St. Louis-area schools: Chaminade (Jack Meara), DeSmet (Stipanovich), Lindbergh (Schnoring), Parkway South (Maloney), and SLUH (everybody else).

Despite this impressive lineup, contending for a high finish in California won't be easy. The final week of practice was rudely interrupted by chemical problems at the pool, which allowed the team only 1 practice. Also, injuries to a few athletes has left the team's performance somewhat in doubt.

If the Cats are unable to meet their expectations, it certainly won't be due to a nonexistent fan base. This summer, the en vouge thing to do is apparently make the JO trip the family vacation. The Hohenbergers, Mrs. Sizemore, Mrs. Maloney, the Mearas, Mr. Going, the Pages, the O'Neills + 1, Mr. Savio, the entire legendary Heafner family, and the Stipanovichs will ALL be in California at one time or another to cheer on the boys.

Please check back here for regular updates, including game summaries and statistics. The action all starts Saturday at 7:00AM PDT against Stanford White, followed by a 10:40AM tilt against Rosebowl. Tomorrow is a travel day and a coaches meeting (and hopefully Red Robin for dinner). My next post will be not from St. Louis...!

Thanks for reading.


jp
(1475)

Thursday and More

The pool at Chaminade is still out of service. There is no JCWP practice tonight.

Cubs, your games Monday will not be at MICDS; they will be at either Lindbergh or Marquette.

Varsity 1 and Varsity 2 players, we will definitely practice Monday and Tuesday, either at Chaminade or at Parkway West, and your games Wednesday might not be at MICDS.

JO team, you are welcome at Clayton Shaw Park tonight from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM to scrimmage with the mens team. When you return, you will have games Wednesday night. I hope you plan to attend and defend our title.

I will e-mail and post again when I know more. Thanks for your patience!

Coach Baud

Midlothian Chicago Tournament

For those of you that are planning on going to the tournament this weekend please

1. Fill out the release form http://www.geocities.com/junglecatpolo/release.pdf
or you will not be able to attend.

2. Be at St. James the Greater Church on Tamm Avenue in Dogtown at 515 AM on Saturday morning. Our first game is at 10:15 and we need to get on the road.

3. Please make your check payable to Charlie Cutelli.

4. If their are older players still interested in going please contact me ASAP via ccutelli@pkwy.k12.mo.us

Looking forward to it

Coach Cutelli

Leopards, Lions Roll

In the penultimate games of the 2008 Summer League, the Leopards and Lions each won two games to advance to next week's semifinals and finals.

First, the Leopards dispatched SLAP 12-7. Steve Sigman provided the bulk of the offense, while a resurrected Marty Ruzicka teamed with Danny Faust and Jack Buelter to limit SLAP's formidable 2-meters. Grace Keesling earned Player of the Game honors for her two second-half goals.

The Lions then battled Daisy for more than four quarters. John Savio nearly secured the victory with his trademark backhand to put the Lions ahead one with under three minutes to play, but Daisy managed to tie the score and force a sudden victory period. After a dynamic game in the field, Patrick Maloney took a turn in goal and blocked a pool length shot, setting the stage for Matt Stipanovich's golden goal and an 11-10 win.

As the first place team from their bracket, the Leopards next swam against the Mad Dogs in the quarterfinals. An effective press defense again keyed the counterattack and allowed a number of easy goals. The 11-5 win included some offensive fireworks from Daniel Pike. Play of the Game was Travis Neuberger's blind tip of a vertical pass past the onrushing goalie, earning a burst of applause from the crowd.

Finally, the Lions faced a fresh Tigers squad, who fell to third in their bracket with two forfeit losses last week. The Tigers came out slowly, though, and trailed 5-0 after one quarter as well as at the half. Resurgent offense from Parker Finlinson and Kyle Schnoring and committed defense from Rob Golterman allowed the Tigers to come within three goals early in the fourth quarter, but Stipanovich helped the Lions pull away for an 11-6 win.

Next week, the Lions play in the first semifinal game at 5:55 PM, the Leopards play in the second at 6:45 PM, and the Tigers play in the fifth place game at 9:15 PM. The location of these games may change, as MICDS is scheduled to drain their pool this weekend.

Wednesday's Practice

Sorry for the late notice, but Chaminade's pool remains unavailable to us due to water quality issues. Tonight, there will be one practice for all Kittens and Cubs AT PARKWAY WEST HIGH SCHOOL FROM 7:30 PM TO 9:10 PM. This is the final event for the Kittens this summer. I will post again tomorrow with information about tomorrow night.

Thank you for your patience. We too are very frustrated with the situation and are working with Chaminade to resolve it.

Coach Baud

**PRACTICE FOR TUESDAY, 7/22 CANCELLED**

Varsity practice for tonight (Tues, 7/22) has been cancelled due to a severe chemical problem with the pool water. The situation seems to have worsened since last night and the CCP staff is attempting to solve the problem so that no further practice interruptions will occur. I apologize for having to cancel practice but water that bad is somewhat of a safety threat.

The game schedule for tomorrow night is as follows:

LIONS - 7:35; if you win, 9:15
TIGERS - 9:15
LEOPARDS - 6:45; if you win, 8:25

Again, sorry for having to cancel practice. My eyes are burning even as I type this....


-jp

Cubs Keep Improving, and Losing

Both Cubs teams continue to play better each week but struggle to show up well on the scoreboard against juniors and seniors in the B league.

The Tiger Cubs lost to the Flyers by forfeit, but with the help of several Flyers playing alongside the Cubs, the game score was only 6-5. Goalie Max Wahl again earned Player of the Game honors for his multiple steals, solid shot-blocking, and steady passing.

The Lion Cubs played Mad Dog even through two plus quarters, forcing a 4-4 tie a minute into the second half. But the counterattack defense fell apart, and the Mad Dogs scored five unanswered to take control. A fourth quarter surge brought the Cubs within two, but the Mad Dogs responded and won 12-7. Mitch Meyer earned Player of the Game honors for his relentless offense, scoring five of the seven goals according to unofficial statistics.

Next Monday is the bragging rights game, as the two Cubs teams square off at 7:35 PM. The game may be moved to another location besides MICDS. If so, players will be notified at practice.

John's All-Stars Defy Odds, Acid Water, Win 11-10

The legendary John's All-Star team came out of retirement to defeat the potentially legendary 2008 JO team in a tilt held in the highly acidic and highly dangerous water at Chaminade. Team members included: Jim Heafner, Wes Going, Ben Favier, Jake Meyer, Jimmy Bowers, Kerry Read, Steve Sigman (honorary member), and the Founder.

The All-Stars finish their 2008 schedule with a perfect 1-0 record.

Cats take fifth at Clayton

The Jungle Cats finished their JO Warm-Up tour by beating Iowa 15-13 in a 5th place tilt at Shaw Park. The Cats were in control the entire game and did a terrific job alternating between pressing, dropping, and crashing as the situation dictated.

Stats:
Sizemore (G), Meara (G), Read (G, A), Savio (2G), Milford (G), Derdeyn (3G), Stipanovich (3G, 2A), Heafner (G, 2A), Page (2G, 2A), Penilla (6 saves on 19 shots, 4 assists)

JCWP Takes 3rd in Pool A

The Jungle Cats went 2-2 today, finishing with 2 wins against 2 losses earlier in the day.

In the 1:00 PM game, the Jungle Cats dispatched the boys from SLAP with a strong 9-5 performance. The Cats had several chances they were unable to convert, as SLAP goalie Blake Stabler was impressive between the pipes, as he was all year during the high school season. Will Page & John Savio led the scoring with 2G apiece.

Stats: Sizemore (G, A), Maloney (G), Meara (2A), Savio (2G), Derdeyn (G), Stipanovich (G, 2A), Heafner (G, A), Page (2G, A), Penilla (5 saves on 10 shots)


At 4:20, the Cats played Beach Whales for the right to finish 3rd in pool play. The team jumped out to a ridiculous 7-2 lead after the first quarter, overwhelming the opposition in every aspect (including goaltending). However, the Whales were "assisted" the rest of the way by several players from the Iona College team. The team held on though to escape with a 14-12 win.

Stats: Sizemore (2G), Savio (G), Milford (G, A), Derdeyn (G, 4A), Stipanovich (G, 4A), Heafner (4G), Page (4G), Penilla (8 saves on 20 shots, A)


Finally, in the matchup against the 4th place team from Pool B, the Jungle Cats again jumped out to a big lead and then had to hold on for a win. Despite a 10-5 halftime lead, the Blazers from KC kept it close and only lost by a 15-13, the 15th goal coming from Mr. Instant Offense himself, Coach P (shameless promotion of myself), on a 5M seconds after switching from the goal the field. William "Will, I Am" Page's 6 goals were a team high for the tournament, prompting the coaching triumvirate of Penilla, Milford, and Cutelli to ask "Why don't you do that every time?"

Stats: Savio (2G, A), Milford (G, 1 save on 2 shots), Stipanovich (2G, 2A), Derdeyn (A), Heafner (3G, 7A), Page (6G), Penilla (G, 5 saves on 17 shots, A)


TOMORROW'S GAME IS AT 8:50 AT SHAW PARK! See you all there. Thanks for the support this weekend; it's been tremendous. Special thanks to Steve Savio, Tom Sizemore, and Patrick Merritt for statkeeping for me/us.

-jp

Cats Come Up Short Against Clayton 'B'

The Jungle Cats fell just short in their upset bid against a bigger, more physical Clayton B team in morning action at Clayton Shaw Park. The final score was 13-9. The scoring was led by Mike Sizemore and Matt Stipanovich, each tallying 2 goals. 8 different players assisted on goals, and the offense had some good looks they just were not able to convert. Defensively, Micheal O'Neill anchored a relatively effective crash defense though the goaltending was again subpar. The main problem in this game was giving up counter-attack goals. Hopefully the team can improve that later in the day.

Current Record: 0-2

Next Game: 1:00 PM

Stats:
Sizemore (2G, A), Maloney (G, A), Meara (G), Going (A), Milford (G, A), Stipanovich (2G), O'Neill (Gordie Howe hat-trick ... G, A, Ejection), Page (G, 2A), Penilla (6 saves, A)

J-Cats Humbled Against nWo

The Jungle Cats survived a rough outing against the older and bigger team from Chicago, falling by a count of 17-5. John Heafner and Mike Sizemore led the scoring, and old friend Jim Heafner also got in on the scoring. The team plays again at 9:40 tomorrow morning. The final score was 17-7.

Stats:
Sizemore (Gordie Howe HT), Meara (A), Savio (G), Derdeyn (G), John Heafner (3G, A), Jim Heafner (Gordie Howe HT), Penilla (5 saves)

Kittens Repeat!

The Kittens successfully defended their Winter Middle School League championship, defeating the Mad Dogs 8-6. Pieter Derdeyn and Thomas Morgan led a stifling defensive effort which limited the opponent to only two goals through three quarters of play. Michael Bowers earned Play of the Game honors and the affection of the coaching staff by converting an off-handed sweep shot, just learned in practice two days earlier.

Other standout players, including Darrian Castro, Bradley Gleason, Graham Lumley, Daniel Maloney, Michael Savio, and Michael Sigman, have Jungle Cat Water Polo well positioned for more victories in the years to come.

Coach Baud

CLAYTON TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE **UPDATED**

Here is the final schedule. We are in Group 'A'

Friday
Game 1- 9:00 PM

Saturday
Game 2- 9:40 AM
Game 3- 1:00 PM
Game 4- 4:20 PM
*End of Bracket Play*

6:00- 3rd in A vs. 4th in B
6:50- 4th in A vs. 3rd in B

Sunday
8:00- 5th in A vs. 4th in B
8:50- 3rd in A vs. 3rd in B
9:50- 1st in A vs. 2nd in B
10:40- 2nd in A vs. 1st in B
11:30- 4th in A vs. 4th in B
12:20- 5th in A vs. 3rd in B
1:20- 2nd A vs. 2nd B
2:20- 1st A vs. 1st B

Schedule

The following is the schedule for the remainder of our summer session.

July 21: Cubs games at MICDS; Kittens practice, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM; Varsity practice, one group, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM; Junior Olympic team vs. John's All-Stars, 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM

July 22: Cubs practice, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM; Varsity 1 practice, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM; Varsity 2 practice, 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM; Kittens practice, 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM at Parkway West

July 23: Varsity games at MICDS; last Kittens practice, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM; Cubs practice, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

July 24: last Cubs practice, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM; Varsity 1 practice, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM; Varsity 2 practice, 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM

July 28: Cubs games at MICDS; Varsity practice, one group, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

July 29: last Varsity practice, one group, 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

July 30: Varsity games at MICDS

T-shirts might be available for pick-up on July 28 or 29. (The delay is due to a redesign.) If the shirts are not delivered by then or if you will not attend practice on one of those two evenings, I will be sure to get you your shirt sometime this fall or winter.

Thank you for being a part of the largest session in the eleven-year history of Jungle Cat Water Polo!

Coach Baud

Clayton Tournament & Next Monday's Varsity Practice

The Junior Olympic Team will be participating in the Clayton Men's tournament this weekend (July 18-20) at Clayton Shaw Park. As soon as a schedule is available, I will post it here. For now, athletes can be assured that we will not play BEFORE 6 PM on Friday night and not before 8 AM on either Saturday or Sunday. Athletes should plan on 1 game Friday, 3 games Saturday, and 1 game Sunday.

**ATTENTION ALL VARSITY 1 AND VARSITY 2 MEMBERS**
Next Monday, July 21, there will be one combined practice from 7:00 to 8:30pm. JO Athletes are free to come to that practice, but should plan on playing a game from 8:30 to 10:00 against the legendary John's All-Star team. NORMAL PRACTICE TIMES WILL RESUME ON TUESDAY.

Summer 'A' League Schedule

The remaining 'A' league schedule has been posted to MOWaterPolo.com. Please make note of your starting game times. The schedule for this week is shown below.

Tigers @ 6:45 and 8:25
Lions @ 7:35
Leopards @ 8:25

-jp

Kittens vs. SLAP

Kittens 10 vs SLAP 0
In the final game of the round robin stage of the middle school league, the Kittens shut out SLAP. We got off to a great start, with Thomas Morgan notching a hat trick within the first three minutes. In typical fashion, we shifted our focus to scoring only on drives. Throughout the rest of the game, seven other Kittens added tallies to our side of the scoreboard. We had a few problems balancing out on offense during the first half, but after a few reminders from the coaches, we tweaked our game for the second half, looking the best we've been all summer. There were points in the game when SLAP could not move the ball around on offense due to our excellent ball side defense. Both coaches were very impressed with our ability to drive and get open during the second half. We also successfully prevented man up goals by SLAP. Remember Kittens don't pull back.

Things that went right:
Passing lane defense - we forced many turnovers and created many counterattacking opportunities with our defense.
Set offense - During the second half our drivers created a large number of scoring opportunities.
Counterattacks - we scored a few goals on breakaways and we also used the flat-wing release effectively a few times when necessary.

Areas in need of improvement:
Matching up during restarts - Too often SLAP players were left unguarded near the goal because not everyone was accounted for.


Next week the Kittens will attempt to defend the middle school league championship against Mad Dog at 6:45.

J-Cats Take 5th at Des Moines *Final Stats Added*

The Jungle Cats faced off against fellow St. Louis team SLAP for the seemingly millionth year in a row at Des Moines, this time for the 5th place trophy. The Cats were relentless from the beginning, taking a ridiculous 10-0 lead by halftime, highlighted by a goal by super-goalie Coach P...while playing goalie. The second-half wasn't quite as bloody, with the Cats only outscoring the SLAPers 7-4. To begin the 4th quarter, Penilla took the swim off wearing the red goalie cap, won, and promptly called a timeout, and handed over the goaltending duties to Mike Sizemore.

John Louis Heafner led the team with 5 goals, while Matt Stipanovich scored a Gordie Howe Hatrick (water polo style): a goal, an assist, and an ejection. Coach Milford finally got the monkey off his back and put one in the back of the cage; Jack Meara, though goal-less, did manage to injure the SLAP backup goalie. It was a fun game, and JCWP remains unbeaten against SLAP (on the varsity level).

Clayton next weekend. Then JO'S!

Final Stats (Name: Goals / Assists / Points)
Sizemore: 5/6/11
Meara: 3/2/5
Savio: 5/2/7
Page: 4/5/9
Read: unavailable
Penilla: 1/1/2
Heafner: 12/1/13
Goeddel: 4/1/5
Stipanovich: 10/3/13
O'Neill: 4/0/4
Milford: 1/3/4

Goalie Stats (Name: Saves / Assists / Goals Against)
Penilla: 22/5/35
Sizemore: 4/0/2
Meara: 0/0/2

Des Moines Day 1

7:00 AM v. NWO

The Cats came out flat against one of Chicago's top club teams and found themselves down 5-0 after the first quarter. We showed life in the second quarter, matching NWO's two goals with two of our own. The rest of the way, the Cats outplayed NWO to the tune of 7-4, putting the final score at 11-9. Highlights include Coach Penilla got scored on from half court and John Heafner's 4 goals, earning Heafner player of the game.



10:45AM v. Armada

After a short break for some bagels and bananas, the Cats cam out slow again knotting only one goal in the first quarter against Armada, the second of three Chicago clubs teams we faced. The defense was fantastic as we allowed only two goals, both in the second quarter. Dan Goeddel and Matt Stiponovich led the way with 3 goals a piece, with Dan being names player of the game.



4:00PM v. Badgers

The Cats enjoyed a nice break between the second and third game and enjoyed the traditional Subway lunch and a nice long nap. Keeping with the theme of the day, the Cats struggled to find goals against the overmatched, who obviously were from Wisconsin. As University of Wisconsin student and assistant coach Kerry Read said, these guys don't play with us, they are mostly old dudes. Going into the third quarter tied 2-2, we finally started counter-attacking, notching 5 goals in the quarter. The Badgers plugged away for 5 goals, two of which came late in the 4th after super-goalie John Penilla came into the field. Poor Jack Meara allowed two goals against and made zero saves in his short stint in goal, but they weren't his fault as the Cats stopped playing hard in the 4th quarter. Matt Stiponovich earned player of the game honors by leading the team with two goals.



6:15PM v. Apostles

The 3rd Chicago club the Cats faced was the legendary Apostles team. Going in, the Cats were confident that the older Apostles would be tired and not willing to counter-attack. Amazingly, the significantly younger Jungle Cats were the ones unwilling to counter. The 16-6 loss was marked mostly by an avalanche of 2-on-1, 3-on-2 and 4-on-3 offensive possessions for the wily old veterans. Player of the game honors went to goaltender and coach John Penilla for taking a shot from 5M off of his head.

Looking back, we beat the teams we SHOULD have beaten, but couldn't find the mental toughness to beat the teams we COULD have beaten. It was a good day and we are looking forward to coming out hard against SLAP on Sunday for the 5th place game.

Arrival in Iowa

We made it. It's after midnight and we have a 7AM game in the morning v. New World Order out of Chicago. The forecast is 69 degrees with scattered t-storms at game time. It should clear upa nd get into the mid-70s for the rest of the day.

The roster for the trip:

Jungle Cats:
Dan Goeddel
John Heafner
Jack Meara
Michael O'Neill
William Page
John Savio
Mike Sizemore
Matt Stiponovich

Player-Coaches:
Tom Milford
John Penilla
Kerry Read

Chaperones:
Mr. Heafner
Mrs. Page

Should be a great weekend.

-Coach Tom

Lions defeat Tigers

In a competitve battle among Jungle Cat teams, the Lions eked out a victory over their rival Tigers 10-7. The Tigers led for a good part of the game, and were within 1 goal many other times. The Lion defenders were slow to adapt to the Tigers' offense, which often consisted of getting Kyle S. and Parker F. the ball and letting them shoot. One such defensive lapse led to the Lions playing with only 4 athletes for about 2 minutes in the 2nd quarter.

The second half was a much better performance from the Lions. Employing a drop/crash against Kyle & Parker, they were able to shut down the Tiger offense while Matt Stipanovich and company raised it up a notch on the offense end.

The Lions finish the round-robin play undefeated; the Tiger's loss was their first of the summer.


-jp

WATER POLO SUITS * UPDATE*

The team suits have arrived and are available for pickup.

If you ordered a team suit, please bring $30 (cash or check to: John Penilla) to receive your suit. Athletes will not receive their suit until they have paid for it. As mentioned earlier, information on girls suits was available in a previous post.

Please let me know if you have any questions. penilla@sluh.org


-jp

Lions Defeat Daisy 7-2

The Lions team used a strong defensive effort to shut down Daisy and run their record to a perfect 4-0.  Offensively, John Savio & Jack Meara had timely goals, but the story was the defense.

Matt Hohenberger had countless steals from the cage on overthrown counter-attack passes.  In the field, the team alternated between a crash (in the shallow end) and pressing (in the deep end).  Both defenses were effective at befuddling the Daisy boys, who often took shots under pressure or passed directly to a crashing Cat.

Hohenberger was named Player of the Game.

Kittens 9 vs Old Warson 4

The Jungle Cat Kittens faced off against previously undefeated Old Warson tonight. In our toughest test to date, the Kittens coped with some early woes on both ends of the pool but regrouped to dominate during the second half of the game. This was the group's first experience against a team who liked to crash on defense, leading to some ill-advised passes to hole early on, but as a team we evolved and dealt with the unfamiliar defense fairly well. Michael Bowers started to get into his groove at two meters, scoring 4 goals, and Sam Erlinger played well on both ends, contributing 2 goals. Derrion Castro, Bradley Gleason, and Thomas Morgan also added tallies to the Kittens' total.

Things that went well:
Defense - we did a great job press blocking and forcing bad passes, staying in the passing lanes and looking to help.
Hole offense - Our 2M players are getting more comfortable shooting out of hole, but they are still doing a great job of looking for open drivers.
Protecting the ball - we're going a much better job of push dribbling to open water

Areas in need of improvement:
Maintaining an umbrella - despite touching on this topic every day for the past two weeks, we spent very little time balanced properly and the middle was overcroweded for most of the game
Counterattacking - Although roughly half of our goals came from counterattacks, we rarely looked weak and passed to the open man cross-goal

Cubs Weeks 2 & 3

Sorry for the delay. As always, I am going from memory on the score as stats aren't kept.

Tiger Cubs
Last week, the Tiger Cubs had a great showing against the SLAP Women. The defensive effort was fantastic holding SLAP to only 2 goals. Joe Kabance and Ben Kimbrough led the way at 2M guard. The aptly named Max Wahl had a great game in goal and won player of the game honors.

This week, the Tiger Cubs had to face a very physical Kirkwood team. I don't know why, but some seniors-to-be were playing for Kirkwood in what is meant to be a JV league. Anyway, the TC's got off to a rough start by throwing passes to teammates who weren't looking, which resulted in a lot of counter-attack goals for Kirkwood, 8 in all in the first half. In the second half, the TC's improved their passing and their defense, allowing only 3 second half goals and scoring 8 themselves (6 in the 4th quarter) which brought the final score to 11-9 Kirkwood. For the second week in a row, Ben Kimbrough and Joe Kabance led the second half defensive charge and both are improving greatly. The player of the game (there were many candidates worthy) went to Robert Garlock for playing hard both ways, often being in the right position at the right time.

Lion Cubs
Last week, the Lions Cubs battled SLAP to a 13-9 win (I think). SLAP was physical and counter-attacked hard and it took some adjusting for the LC's to leave for defense early to prevent counters. Colby Faddis again led the offensive charge (a SLAP parent was overheard saying "who is that kid?") and the defensive stopping was left up to Mitch Kramer and Nate Burgraff. Nate earned POTG game honors by making multiple stops on SLAP's 2M's.

This week, the LC's got off to a rough start against Parkway who boasted a graduated senior from Parkway West, Kevin Gallas. Kevin was bigger and more physical than our guards, and countered early and make strong moves close to the goal. Mitch and Nate adjusted though and started keeping their hips up and pushing Kevin outside 5M, where he became ineffective. Nate took home POTG honors again for figuring out how to stop Kevin's backhand. Michael Hagerty, Colby Faddis and Mitch Meyer led the offensive charge as the LC's won 14-10 (or so).