The two top seeds in the Michigan Water Polo Association state finals met in the championship game on Saturday at Hudsonville. Dexter knocked off Zeeland 11-6 in a quarterfinal game on Friday and then scored an 8-4 win over Grand Haven in a semifinal game also on Friday.
Hudsonville’s path went through Ann Arbor – with wins over Skyline (11-5) and Pioneer (10-7).
Hudsonville not only was the defending state champions but have been ranked No. 1 all season and had a perfect record heading into the finals with the talented Dreadnaughts. The Eagles jumped out to a big lead and never let Dexter back into the game for an impressive 11-7 win and another state title.
The Eagles struck first to take a 1-0 lead but Dexter answered on a goal by Sam Sterlitz.
With the game tied 1-1 after one, the Eagles scored twice to take a 3-1 lead into the break. Hudsonville stretched the lead to 5-1 before Sterlitz scored again. But the Eagles answered with two more goals for a 7-2 advantage.
Leo Varitek scored twice for the Dreadnaughts, who continued to battle and cut the deficit to 7-4. But Hudsonville did what great teams do, they answered and scored to make it 8-4 before the end of the third period.
After Tony Golin scored for Dexter, the Eagles added two more goals to make it 10-5. Sterlitz scored his third of the game and Ben Duncan added a late goal for Dexter.
The Dreadnaughts finished with a 4-0 District record, 15-2 record in the region and 18-3 overall. They were an impressive 11-3 against top 10 teams.
