Varsity

The game started with a blast of activity already, with several passes. Palatine Varsity Player #21, Matt Stepp, scored the first goal around 90 seconds into the game. Swarms of players in red caps, for Palatine players, and white caps, for Conant. Conant was left scoreless at the end of first quarter thanks to the effort of the Pirate team, whose score was at a 5-0.

 A Conant player scored them their first goal in the second quarter. The player responsible for the second Cougar goal was halted before he could make the third Cougar goal, and Palatine got the ball back after another shot at the sides. 

The Pirates and Cougars continued their quest for the ball with an instance of Stepp scoring a goal at 3:43. This further showed the feat and strength of the Pirates, just like their 7-2 score against Conant at the end of the second quarter after Kris Szulc (#27) scored for the Pirates.

Conant gave up the ball immediately to Palatine at the start of third quarter. The Pirates got the ball leading to (#4)’s two epic shots to against the Cougars at just over a minute apart. Despite 3 goals from the Cougars, it already seemed difficult to overtake the Pirates’ 11-6 score at the end of 3rd quarter. The 2 teams still had a lot to go for 4th quarter. 

To start the 4th quarter, Pirates did a good job at blocking a shot  30 seconds into the 4th quarter.  Stepp scored another goal for the Pirates and showed how the Cougars had no way of catching up. Yet, Conant would proceed to respond with a goal at 2:39. After a long time for the Pirates in the pool, and many timeouts, turnovers, and twists, the Pirates Varsity Team conquered the game with a 17-7 final score.

Junior Varsity

March 22, 2023 was the Pirate Polo Junior Varsity Team’s game versus Conant High. The Pirates beat Conant 9-6.

The game started off a mix of strong and weak for both of the teams. A time out was called at some point and the Pirates of Palatine were now defense, while Conant was offense, and Owen, number 13, missed the goal shortly after, and (C#15) scored a foul. The score at the end of the first quarter was 2-2.

After a failed attempt from (#11), who passed to (#17), who then passed back, the Pirates would get the ball back. (#11) then successfully scored against Conant, marking a 3-2 score for the game, and the first goal of the second quarter. The next goal was from (#3), throwing with force as the team and audience cheered, bumping the score to 4-2, which came to be the final score for the second quarter and the halftime score. “No need to be shooting that far away,” said the coach, after (#24) threw the polo ball far from the goal and hit the goal’s steel posts.

JV Coach Giuliano was announcing the next positions for the team at the next goal a few seconds into the next quarter, which was scored by Conant, and the announced positions were changed and delayed until a few goals later. Owen started with the ball at the 5-3 point, during that time, the new lineup of the in-players for Palatine took effect. The following goal waved another applause at the crowd, followed by a shock from a failed goal from Brodie(#7).

The last goal in this quarter was from Conant JV, but Palatine remained the top fighter with a 6-4 score.

The last quarter was already filled with activity, intense swimming and some ball passes and shots, including a fifth goal from the Cougars. Several times, it was a close game with close shots, but thanks to PHS team’s efforts throughout the game, the Pirates left the pool winning 9-6.