Dexter Water Polo Eighth at MWPA State Finals

The Dexter water polo team came home with an eighth-place finish at the MWPA state final s tournament at Birmingham Groves this weekend.

The underdog Dreadnaughts were not expected to make the tournament, but battled through districts and regionals for a spot in the finals and while they went 0-3 in the tournament, playing in the final weekend was quite an accomplishment.

The Dreadnaughts opened by giving top-ranked and eventual state champion Rockford all they could handle in a 10-6 loss.

Rockford jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Liam MacNeil scored just before the end of the first to cut the lead to 4-1.

MacNeil would find the net early in the second to cut the lead to 4-2, but the Rams answered for a 5-2 lead.

Ethan Vince fired one home to cut the Rockford lead to 5-3 at the half.

Matthew Resende made it 5-4 early in the second and after the Rams scored to make it 6-4, MacNeil tallied his third of the game to cut the lead to 6-5.

Rockford would close out the third with three straight goals to take control with a 9-5 lead after three.

The lead grew to 10-5 before the Dreads would get one more goal to make the final 10-6.

Dexter drew Ann Arbor Huron in the second match Saturday morning and a pair of Otto Krueger goals cut the Huron lead to 4-2, but it was all River Rats from there. Huron would find the net eight more times and built a 12-2 lead at halftime.

The lead would grow to 14-2 in the third before Dima Griffith found the net to stop the Huron run. The River Rats would add three more goals for a 17-3 final.

Dexter would take on the host Groves in the seventh-place match and came up on the short end of an 11-8 loss.

Chance McArtor put the Dreadnaughts up early, but Groves would answer with a pair of goals and a 2-1 lead after one.

Vince would score the equalizer early in the second to make it 2-2, but Groves would score twice for a 4-2 lead.

Resende struck for the Dreadnaughts to make it 5-3 only to have Groves find the net late in the period for a 5-3 lead at the half.

Groves would start the second half with a pair of goals for a 7-3 lead, but Resende and MacNeil would each score to make it 8-5 Groves after three periods.

After Groves scored to make it 9-5 to start the fourth, Vince found the net to make it 9-6.

Groves would score twice more to push its lead to 11-6.

Resende and MacNeil tally one more goal each to cut the Groves lead to 11-8, but that would be the final.