The St. Benedict’s Varsity Water Polo Team defeated the Pingry Big Blues, 14-7, in their first victory of the season. The Gray Bees handed a loss to the Blue’s in the Henry and Agnes Brennan Pool, all while competing in front of a packed crowd, creating great offensive opportunities, and running an efficient defense.

“We were focused and the crowd kept us motivated while we ran the drills we had practiced,” said junior Juan Abalo, the deep-end goalie for the varsity squad.

Benedict’s scored six goals in the first quarter and transitioned to a powerful defense, not allowing any offenders from Pingry to score. Otis Tyson, the Gray Bees’ top scorer, scored six goals overall. At one point, the Pingry team came within one goal of the Gray Bees, but forceful offense kept the Bears in check.

“Confidence was very high and we executed plays better [than in the previous game],” said Dante Garvin, a starter for the St. Benedict’s varsity squad.

The determined Benedict’s team clinched a win with multiple consequential plays. Varsity Captain, Kenya Moncur-Whitaker, scored a buzzer-beater goal with the shot clock running down.

Varsity starter, Ameen King, added to the late heroics for St Benedict’s and scored three goals in the fourth quarter. Senior Robert Marshall assisted his classmate, Otis Tyson, who beamed a crowd-jumping shot to give the Gray Bees momentum to take down the Pingry team.

The Gray Bees, who came in a “disappointing” Second Place last year at the State Championships, aspire to “take it all home” this upcoming season, according to Juan Abalo.