Going into the season after a 2015 state championship, the LT boys water polo team expects little to no drop off in performance. With both George Lundgren ‘16 and Sam Szczepaniak ‘16 returning as the leading goal scorers and an offensive powerhouse, the squad should be equally as explosive as they were last spring. Lundgren and Szczepaniak each scored a game-high three goals in the state championship to cap off 104 and 102 goal seasons, respectively.

“All in all, we have a very similar team,” Szczepaniak said. “We’re undersized, but we have a lot of speed. We use a primarily movement-based offense to take advantage of other slower teams, and I expect it to be just as effective as it was last year. After all, this isn’t our first rodeo.”

The team is led by Head Coach Doug Eichstaedt, who tallied his second state victory last year with LT polo after winning his first in 2012. In total, 10 seniors expect to return to the team, including key contributors such as Lundgren, Szczepaniak, Michael Zahorik, Adam Cardone, David Furlan and Anthony Berley. Most of the guys on the team have been playing together since early middle school with the LT Swim/Polo Club.

“It’s fantastic for our team chemistry,” varsity goalie Nick Rosenberger ‘16 said. “We’ve all known and been playing with each other since the sixth grade, and that helps with our dynamic both in and out of the pool.”

The biggest change to the team, however, comes in the form of a new goalie. After the graduation of two-year varsity all-state goalie and team captain Jack Linden ‘15, Rosenberger will be taking his spot.

“It’s an honor to be taking Jack’s spot,” Rosenberger said. “[Linden is] a fantastic guy, and he was a huge mentor to me. He really took me under his wing my freshman year and throughout high school.”

Eichstaedt expects very little loss of talent between Linden and Rosenberger. Both of their most dominant characteristics are outlet passing and keeping the offense moving at a fast pace.

“[Linden] and Nick practiced everyday together and got great experience,” Eichstaedt said. “He’s in great shape, has excellent counter-attack passing and can really do a lot of things for us on both the offensive and defensive end.”

This year, the team has similar goals for greatness. Although competitors Naperville Central and Stevenson, who the team played in the state championship last year, are both returning most of their players, rival Fenwick graduated every single one of their starters and should be entering a rebuilding year, Szczepaniak said.

“Another state championship is definitely our goal for this year,” Eichstaedt said. “Depth is going to be a huge strength for us too. We have lots of younger kids that have been successful at lower levels that should make us very competitive coming off the bench.”

Despite such lofty expectations, the squad looks forward to the upcoming season, which starts Feb. 29 with its first official practice.

“It’ll be a fun season,” Rosenberger said. “As the defending state champs, we’ll be playing with a target on our backs. Every game, someone is going to give you their best, so the season should be a very exciting one.”