Getting ready to host its annual Cardinal Tournament, the Greenwich High School boys water polo team is in the midst of another highly successful season, one that it hopes, is another fall season to remember.

The Cardinals entered the recent Beast of the East Tournament in Pennsylvania undefeated and won its first several games of the competitive tournament, before losing to neighborhood rival Brunswick School in the championship match. Brunswick and Greenwich are among the premier high school water polo teams in the region and nation and are expected to play against each other once again in the title game of the Cardinal Tournament, which takes place today and tomorrow at Greenwich High School.

Prior to heading out to Wilson High School in Pennsylvania, the site of the annual Beast of the East Tournament where they finished in second place, the Cardinals hosted another Greenwich-based school in the form of Greenwich Country Day School – a program on the rise.

In an action-packed matchup featuring impressive passing, strong shooting and stellar defensive play, Greenwich registered a 20-10 victory over Greenwich Country Day. Twelve players scored goals for the Cardinals, who displayed their depth throughout this game against the Tigers, who are in their fourth season as a varsity team.

Charlie Koven scored three goals, as did Giorgio Michailides for the Cardinals, who received two goals apiece from Aedan Browning, Will Hanna, Jake Melley and Austin Sciulla.

Luke Mendelsohn, Leo DiLascia and Melley are the Cards’ senior captains. DiLascia was a National Swim Coaches Association Third Team All-America selection for the 2023 season, while Mendelsohn earned NISCA Sixth Team All-America Accolades.

“We’re excited about our team we have a great group of guys,” Mendelsohn said. “We have a talented team this year, so we’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Recently, Greenwich traveled to Annapolis, Maryland, where they successfully tested its skills in a tournament featuring teams such as the Naval Academy’s squad.

“Our tournaments down at Navy were a lot of fun,” Mendelsohn noted. “It gave us a chance to play together, come together and figure out how we play.”

Cardinals coach Jimmy Ramaley noted that Mendelsohn is the team’s leader in goals and assists, while Melley is also a goal-scoring threat along with teammates Calvin Donat, Kovan and Robert Norell.

Jasper Hirt, Britt Clark, Mendelsohn, Dane Fishback, Chase Goldstein and Jack Miller each tallied one goal for GHS in its home win against GCDS. DiLascia earned the win in goal.

“I’m a captain, I’m a goalie, so I need to be a leader on the team and so far, I’ve done a good job of being a leader, the season is going great so far,” DiLascia said. “I’ve been blocking a lot of goals and that’s always great.”

“As of right now, the start of the season is looking pretty good,” DiLascia continued.

Greenwich, which lost to rival Brunswick in the Beast of the East Tournament final, 18-5, hopes to play the Bruins in the Cardinal Tournament and is scheduled to meet Brunswick in another regular season game.

Greenwich Country Day School was led offensively by senior Austin Nelson. Nelson scored nine of the Tigers’ 10 goals against the Cardinals.

“It’s different this year, we have a lot of new players,” Nelson said of his GCDS squad. “We only have two year-round players, so just helping the younger players develop to keep the GCDS team going for a while and keeping the team alive is what we’re trying to do.”

Ethan Jang added one goal for Greenwich Country Day, which was also paced by Nico Della Pietra. Walker Laitala is the Tigers’ goalie.

“We’re teaching the younger players, trying to build up the team culture and we want to keep the GCDS program going for as long as possible,” Nelson noted. “The trend of our support players is going up. There is a lot of growth. That’s the improvement I’ve seen.”

Like Mendelsohn, Melley is also a standout swimmer during the winter for Greenwich’s varsity boys team.

“I like to have the counterattack with speed, that’s part of my skills, Melley said. “So, being a strong swimmer helps in water polo, because you’re in shape from year-round swimming.”

A native of Texas, Melley is in his second season on the Cardinals’ water polo squad.

“It means a lot to be a part of this team and to be one of the leaders,” Melley said. “The Greenwich program has a lot of culture. I played water polo a lot in Texas, but I knew it was strong out here just from national tournaments in club.”

Nelson knows that going up against an experienced, battle-tested team like the Cardinals is good for the Greenwich Country Day program.

“It was great playing against a team like this,” Nelson noted. “It was good to show our younger players what a great program looks like. Greenwich High School has been around forever, so it was good for the less experienced guys to see. There are definitely things we can work on but overall, this is the best we’ve done against GHS.”

Mendelsohn is one of the longer-tenured members of the GHS squad.

“It’s been the best to be a part of this program for four years,” he said. “I have so much fun day in and day out with these guys.”