For the second year in a row, the Williston Northampton Varsity Girls Water Polo team is New England Preparatory School Athletic Council champion. The Wildcats recorded their second consecutive NEPSAC championship with a rousing 19-2 victory over No. 3 Loomis Chaffee in the championship game on Saturday at Phillips Exeter Academy.
The top-seeded Wildcats started the NEPSAC Tournament off with a 19-2 win over No. 4 Choate Rosemary Hall in the afternoon game. Loomis advanced to the championship game with a 12-10 win over No. 2 Greenwich Academy.
In the semifinals, the Wildcats raced out to a 15-0 lead at halftime to take command of the contest. Kaitlyn Williams ’23 scored seven goals and registered four assists in the win, while Campbell Collins ’23 had three goals, five assists, and six steals; Maisie Mattocks ’24 registered there goals, three assists, and two steals; Abby Muscato ’24 had three goals and three steals; and Hayden Hedstrom ’24 nabbed five steals and added a goal and an assist.
The championship game ended with the same score as the semifinal, and Williston was just as dominant to start, taking a 12-0 lead into the break. Collins made sure to cap her career in the pool with a bang, tallying eight goals and six steals to go with one assist. Williams also left it all in the pool for the Wildcats, finishing with four goals, four steals, two blocked shots and an assist. In goal, Juno Aselton ’25 kept the Pelicans from getting momentum going by stopping eight shots. Hedstrom (two goals, two assists, two steals) and Mattocks (three goals, two steals, one assist) helped secure the victory for Williston.
“As was our mantra all spring, defense wins championships and ours was smothering from start to finish and from top to bottom of the lineup,” Head Coach Bill Berghoff said of his team. “Amazing stuff to watch!”
The Wildcats finish the season with a 16-1 record, including going undefeated in league play.
