“We were going into the match with basically one sub, so we had to switch up our lineup a bit,” said Head Coach Tyler Denize.

There were a few worries going into the game, for Denize as well as his players. With one player injured, one sick and another ejected from the game, the Bear Cubs swam into battle with only one substitute.

“We had to pull some strings with our subs and work hard with what we had,” said freshman Aaron Turk, who had a dominating game with six goals.

With Tucker Mattern, the Cubs starting two-meter player, unavailable due to an ejection from their last game, Turk stepped up and dominated the two-meter position for the entire match.

“When it came down to it, they couldn’t guard Turk one-on-one and they couldn’t guard our post-up player, Todd Hazen, one-on-one,” Denize said.

Hazen had an impressive performance as well with three goals and four steals. “The game plan was to come out, play heavy defense, use our normal plays and go out strong with intensity,” said Hazen, who is confident in the team’s chemistry and its devastating defense.

Assistant Coach Matt McDowell thinks team chemistry is extremely strong and is a big factor in their game plan.

“We knew Delta would be a little shifty, we just wanted to make sure we came out and played our game and be really disciplined.”

Sophomore Joey Doyle has successfully lived up to expectations with a powerful display of two goals, six assists and one steal,“Our first goal is always defense, We wanted to focus mainly on defense and try and beat them by five,” Doyle said.

Sophomore Pat Coleman provided his usual strong foundation for the team.

“I was trying to shut down perimeter shots, I let a few go in that shouldn’t have, but it happens,” Coleman said.

Overall, the Bear Cubs came out strong and stayed agile and intense throughout the whole contest. Proof that legacies die hard, the Bear Cubs open their conference with a 1-0 record.

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