Dexter Water Polo Qualifies for MWPA State Finals

The Dexter water polo came up with a huge win over Walled Lake to qualify the Dreadnaughts for the MWPA state tournament November 10 and 11th in Birmingham.

A team needs to win its first-round game at the regional to qualify for the state final tournament and the third seeded Dreads pulled the upset with an 12-11 win over second seeded Walled Lake.

Dexter fell behind 2-0 early but battled back to take a three goal lead 11-8 entering the final period.

The Dreads committed a foul and Walled Lake had a chance to tie the game with a five-meter shot, but the Dreadnaught goaltender Eric Smaby made a huge save to keep the one goal lead.

Walled Lake would get one last shot to tie it in the final 17 seconds and got a shot away and it was stopped by Smaby and the Dreads got the rebound as time expired to hold on for the win.

Smaby was stellar in the net with 15 saves, including the two huge ones in the final moments for the Dreadnaughts.

Liam MacNeil, who earned All-Region honors for the Dreads, netted six goals to lead Dexter.

Logan Chase and Matthew Resende had two goals each and Dima Griffith one. Otto Krueger picked up four assists, while Chase, Ethan Vince, and Chance McArtor each had one.

The Dreads fell to eventual regional champion Ann Arbor Pioneer 15-5 in the semifinals.

Pioneer jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one period and never looked back to send the Dreadnaughts to the third-place match.

MacNeil scored three for Dexter, while Resende and Griffith each scored one. Krueger had two assists and Vince one, while Smaby made five saves.

Dexter faced Birmingham Groves in the third-place match and dropped a hard-fought 11-10 double overtime thriller.

The Dreadnaughts built a five-goal lead against Groves, but gave up five goals in two minutes to allow Groves to get back in the game.

The teams were tied at 9-9 after regulation and they played two overtime periods to determine a winner.

Groves would hold an 11-10 lead after the first overtime and Dexter would keep fighting in the second overtime but came up short in the end.

MacNeil led the Dreads with four goals, while Krueger added two. Chase, Vince, McArtor, and Resende scored one goal each for Dexter. Smaby made eight saves in net.

Dexter will be seeded fourth at the state finals tournament and will take on West regional champion Rockford in its first round match Friday, November 10.