The Oregon Club men’s water polo team finalized its jump from mediocre conference contender to a national top-10 program this weekend, placing eighth at the National Collegiate Club Water Polo Championship at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
The Ducks opened the tournament with a 14-5 win Friday night over Middlebury College of central Vermont. The win put Oregon in the winners’ bracket against No. 1 Cal Poly.
Oregon lost to the Mustangs 17-4, forcing them into the consolation bracket and out of title contention. Cal Poly went on to win the 16-team tournament.
“It was a good experience,” coordinator George Slavich said. “We played on an entirely new level.”
The Ducks lost their next two games, 15-11 to Miami (Ohio) and 10-9 to Villanova.
“We started out a little flat-footed,” Slavich said of the Villanova match.
Exhaustion may have been a factor in the Ducks final contests. Oregon was forced to play its last three games in less than 24 hours, and the tournament was in a regulation size 30-meter pool. The Ducks, lacking proper facilities, had spent the year training in a complex five meters shorter.
According to Slavich, Oregon may have also been a bit in awe playing in its first national tournament, which took place in Notre Dame’s massive 45,000-square-foot Rolf’s Aquatic Center swimming facility.
However, Slavich commented on the need to adapt to new surroundings. “The water and the chlorine taste the same no matter where you are,” he said.
Overall Slavich was proud of the leap the Ducks took this season.
“It’s a dream to help build a
program and get it to perform on a
different level,” Slavich, who
played intramural water polo at
Stanford, said.
Hockey splits with Bruins during trip to Los Angeles
Oregon’s Club hockey team split its weekend series with UCLA Friday and Saturday night, leaving the Ducks in sole possession of third place in the Pacific-8 Conference.
Oregon won the opening game 6-4 behind a balanced scoring attack. Forwards Jeff Knebel, Justin Keeland, Ryan Jones, Cal Brackin, Dorian Dolinajec and defenseman Whit Ackerman all scored in the Duck win. Jones and Brackin each had three assists for Oregon and goalie Matt Nuernberg stopped 34 of the Bruins’ 38 shots, giving up three goals on UCLA power plays.
In Saturday’s 4-3 loss the Ducks “shot ourselves in the foot,” according to Club coordinator Keeland.
“This game was a heartbreaker,” Keeland said. “We felt we were the better team but timely penalties hurt us.”
Oregon gave up all four goals playing down a man, making it tough on Nuernberg.

Beau Eastes is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald