Wekiva’s boys and girls water polo teams took the pool Tuesday night at Winter Park High School for the district semifinals, facing two tough opponents in matches that ended in defeat. 

The girls team (2-12) ran into a strong Winter Park squad (13-8) and fell 13-1 despite a defensive effort that showed strength in parts of the game. 

Winter Park set the tone early, scoring on its opening possession before capitalizing on turnovers to build a quick lead. The Wildcats added two more goals before Wekiva could settle in, and a late score at the end of the first quarter made it 4-0. 

Despite the deficit, the Mustangs showed resilience on the defensive end in the second quarter. Wekiva forced multiple shot clock violations, disrupting Winter Park’s rhythm. Bryanna Hernandez blocked two separate passing lanes before coming up with a steal, highlighting the team’s effort. 

Goalkeeper Sydney Cooper also played strong for Wekiva. She delivered a series of tough saves, including a one-handed stop that prevented another scoring opportunity and kept the game from getting out of hand early. 

Offensively, Wekiva struggled to break through against a strong Winter Park defense. Senior Avery Megargee generated several chances, including a long-range attempt and another shot off a foul that forced a quality save from the Wildcats’ goalkeeper. 

Winter Park continued to control possession and added to its lead, going into halftime up 7-0. 

The third quarter saw both teams trade turnovers and defensive stops. Megargee fired a long-distance shot late in the period that was stopped, keeping the Mustangs off the board heading into the final quarter. 

Winter Park extended its lead early in the fourth, continuing to find openings offensively.  

Wekiva avoided the shutout in the closing minutes. With just under two minutes remaining, the Mustangs found Megargee in the middle, where she finished for Wekiva’s lone goal of the match. The Wildcats added late scores to close out the 13-1 win. 

Wekiva vs Bishop Moore boys 

The Wekiva boys team (14-7) delivered a much tighter contest in its semifinal matchup against Bishop Moore (10-7), rallying from an early deficit before falling 11-9. 

Head coach Todd Stieger pointed to the slow start and aggressive play as key factors in the loss. 

“My boys definitely struggled this game,” Stieger said. “That team we played played really, really aggressive water polo, and it takes a lot to adapt to that. We didn’t show up to play the first quarter.” 

Bishop Moore struck first and quickly built momentum, taking advantage of early possessions to go up 3-0. Wekiva struggled to find its footing offensively in the opening minutes, with shots either saved or missing the mark. 

Cameron Parry got the Mustangs on the board with a deep shot, and Holden Pedrick followed with a spinning backhand finish off a distant pass to make it 4-2 by the end of the first quarter. 

Defensively, goalkeeper Jaison Harris kept Wekiva within reach. He made multiple saves, including stops on point blank attempts and breakaways, while John Foster contributed with a crucial block to disrupt a scoring chance. 

Bishop Moore extended its lead in the second quarter, capitalizing on miscommunication near the goal and converting on a breakaway to go up 6-3, then 7-3 at halftime. Wekiva continued to struggle creating space offensively, often overshooting or turning the ball over under aggressive pressure. 

The Mustangs responded in the third quarter with their best stretch of the night. 

After Bishop Moore scored to open the half, Parry answered with a goal, then added another following a strong defensive sequence. Nicholas Woodward chipped in with a score, and Pedrick blasted a shot past the keeper on a counter-attack to bring Wekiva within one at 8-7. 

Harris continued to anchor the defense, including a highlight save where he came out of the goal to stuff a breakaway attempt, helping fuel the Mustangs momentum. 

Wekiva completed the comeback early in the fourth quarter. 

After forcing a turnover, Pedrick pushed the ball up the pool and found Foster in the middle for a close-range finish, tying the match at 8-8. 

Bishop Moore responded quickly. 

Following a timeout, the Hornets regained the lead with a nifty sidearm shot, then capitalized on back-to-back turnovers by Wekiva, converting both into breakaway goals to stretch the lead to three with under two minutes remaining. 

Wekiva had chances to close the gap, creating open looks for Pedrick, but the Bishop Moore goalkeeper came up with several big saves down the stretch. Harris answered with multiple late stops of his own, including back-to-back saves on another breakaway and rebound, but the Mustangs couldn’t convert offensively in the final moments. 

Bishop Moore controlled possession in the closing seconds to seal the 11-9 win. 

Coach Stieger noted familiarity with needing to come out stronger. 

“We got down and we came back, but we do that sometimes. When you don’t come out with the right attitude, you don’t project the right score.” 

Despite the loss, Wekiva finished third in the district and will advance to the regional tournament as the No. 6 seed in its bracket. 

Stieger emphasized the need to capitalize on opportunities moving forward. 

“We had nine chances on our man-up offense and only scored one time,” he said. “We’re going to heavily focus on that and just playing the right game. We’ve got to come out with the right attitude and finish the chances we should score.”