By Alex Quevillon
Featuring four past Ottawa Titans players in its lineup, the Canadian men’s water polo team blasted off to a superb start at the March 30-April 4 FINA World League Intercontinental Tournament in California, but their run came to an abrupt end in the quarter-final round.
Driver Dusan Aleksic and hole set David Lapins of Gatineau, along with Ottawa wings Alex Taschereau and John Conway, occupied four of 14 national team positions at the event.
The Toronto 2015 hosts opened the event a pair of victories over their future Pan Am Games rivals for Olympic qualification.
Taking on the host Americans shortly after their own opening ceremonies, the Canadians won their debut 10-9 and then blasted Argentina 15-6 on a three-goal performance from Conway with Taschereau adding another.
Taschereau, Conway and Lapins combined for 12 more tallies as they doubled up on Japan 20-10 to earn an unblemished record in pool play.
“It can be initially difficult to find our pace when we gather again as the national team, especially for guys who play (professionally) in Europe,” Lapins noted in a Water Polo Canada media release. “Obviously starting with the win against the USA eased that pressure somewhat and we were able to build on that momentum.”
The round robin wound up being the highlight however, as Canada couldn’t overcome an early 6-1 deficit in the quarter-final round, losing an 11-10 squeaker to China, which kept them from qualifying for the World League finals later this season.
“It was a crucial game,” Lapins added. “Both teams knew each other well because we had trained together last year. The Chinese don’t go down easy.”
Canada concluded the tournament with a loss to Japan and win over Argentina in the consolation round to finish the event in 7th.
The Capital Wave senior women’s team experienced a similar fate in the quarter-final round at the March 27-29 National Championship League finals, dropping a 10-8 contest to Toronto.
The Wave won 11-10 and then lost 8-6 in matches against Saskatchewan to finish 6th.
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