In the competitive Diablo Athletic League, Miramonte boys water polo finished with a 24-7 record, winning their league with a 7-0 record, won the NCS Championship defeating Campolindo 15-7, and lost in the NorCal Championship game against Sacred Heart Prep 11-10 on a goal scored on the last second of the game.

    Despite accepting such a difficult loss to conclude the season, co-head coach Drew Holland focused on the positives of the season: “When you evaluate the whole season, it was a special year. We had a really talented group that played well together and kept improving throughout the season. Along with our post-season success, we got third place at the Elite Eight tournament, which is an all-California tournament, and got fourth place at the North-South tournament which were a couple of our goals and that was big for us.”

    The post-season was just about how Miramonte and Holland designed it. “Winning the league tournament against Sacred Heart by a single goal 11-10 and then winning the North Coast Championship again over Campolindo 15-7 was huge.”

    Holland did not hesitate to acknowledge the Sacred Heart team and was as quick to sing the praises of his team: “Obviously it was a tough ending and a great game with Sacred Heart and the boys just played some great water polo against a talented and well coached team by Brian Kreutzkamp and it was a heartbreaker to lose on a shot with one second to go. (In fact, that that second was the only time that Sacred Heart had led the entire game). I’m really proud of their effort and the loss does not take away from a great season for sure.”

    Holland spoke from the heart when he addressed the team after the loss: “I let them know how our whole staff was really proud of them and how hard they worked this year. That’s sports and how you love sports and you play for these types of games and to be in those moments. You can play a great game and have it not come your way. That was essentially my message to the team. I told them not to hang their heads and that they should be really proud of the special season we had.”

    Miramonte’s final record of 24-7 does not by itself talk about how competitive the water polo teams are in the area. The last five losses for Miramonte were all by one goal. “Northern California Water Polo is definitely in a good spot and it's really competitive,” Holland said. “We also had some great wins over Oaks Christian and Corona del Mar, teams that made their CIF semifinals in Southern California.”

    Seniors Tristan Tucker was named the league MVP; Brock Bliss was first team all-league and Jackson Cherry second team all-league. Juniors Brady Hasset and Trent Smith were first team all-league and Griff Maclear was second team all-league and sophomore Mason Tunney was also second team all-league. Having averaged 14 goals a game, all but Jackson Cherry were offensive players and though all were well deserving for the honor, Holland felt that his defense was overlooked.

    “Our defense was massively important and they improved throughout the season. We knew we could score goals and our goalies, particularly junior Zavi Ryder improved a lot through the season. As a former goalie myself (Olympian), that was a big point of emphasis for our team and we held Newport Harbor, the top-rated team in the nation, to six goals, their lowest goal output since 2019. Their improvement through the season was a huge reason we were so successful.”

    Though graduating 13 seniors, there were 14 juniors and sophomores on the roster to build on for next season, according to Holland. “It is going to be tough to be losing such talented players but we have a really good, younger group, a lot of juniors and a top sophomore class many of whom are defensive players which will help next season,” he said. “We’re going to be in a great spot to hopefully come back and be stronger next year and that’s our mentality.”