By Daniel Prinn
The Capital Wave women’s team earned the bronze medal at Water Polo Canada’s Apr. 1-3 Senior National Championships, the second time in four years the group has landed on the national podium since the club’s inception.
Alice Nepveu scored seven goals and former Carleton Raven Rachel Baxter counted three goals as the Wave downed Dollard-des-Ormeaux 11-10 in the bronze medal match in Montreal.
“The team was quite happy,” says Wave coach Adrian Steenkamer, whose squad jumped up from its 6th-place finish at last year’s nationals.
The team’s second-year coach saw a big improvement in quality of play from the group this season.
“The team had a more structured vision in wanting to do well,” Steenkamer explains. “We had a number of additional players we didn’t have last year. I think it shows we can compete at a national level with our athletes.”
Facing the DDO Black team directed by Dan Bekhazi, who coached for the Wave last season, it was a Montreal-area product who stepped up for the Ottawa gang.
Second-year Wave player Nepveu scored the game-winning goal – her 7th of the contest – with 1:51 remaining in the 4th quarter.
“She’s a very talented young individual,” Steenkamer indicates. “She’s starting to come to realize her potential in the last couple of years. She’s playing with a lot more confidence and that’s going to help her in the future.”
The Wave were a diverse bunch in terms of age and experience, but meshed very well together, Steenkamer notes.
“We had a good mix of older athletes who have a lot of experience playing and we had a number of athletes that brought a youthful energy to the team,” he adds. “Some of the younger ones thrived under some of the guidance of our older athletes, so that was nice to see.”
Steenkamer hopes “we can build on what we did this year” to finish higher yet in the future, and that the bronze win will bring bigger things for local water polo in general, noting that the sport is “really exciting, and not many people are aware of that.”
Several other http://sportsottawa.com/content/water-polo-defeats-selection-swim-qualifiers-local-athletes-during-busy-aquatics-month local teams also won medals in Eastern Canadian finals.