For the second time in three seasons, the Upper Perkiomen girls water polo

Upper Perkiomen girls water polo team, front row:  Elizabeth Godshall and Amanda Faydl; middle row,  Kayman Heater, Aubrey Yaroschak, and Makayla Jones; top row, Caitlyn McKelvy and Darragh Martin.

finished with a tournament championship, capturing the End of Season School title last week.

            The Indians – consisting of Elizabeth Godshall, Kaitlyn McKelvy, Kayman Heater, Darragh Martin, Mikaela Jones, Amanda Fadil and Aubrey Yaroschak – defeated Upper Merion 20-10 on Friday, Nov. 6 in the tournament title game at Wilson High School near Reading.

            The Tribe, which led 10-5 at halftime, playing with motivation and enthusiasm, never trailed. All of its players – except Godshall, the goalkeeper – scored in the title game.

            The team competed during the final 83 seconds one player down after Martin fouled out. It milked the 30-second shot clock on its final three possessions, according to Kalnoski.

            "The defense was amazing," said the coach, whose team enjoyed an 18-10 advantage for most of the second half. "Everyone played with a lot of energy."

           Kalnoski said he treated the post-season tournament like he does the District One championship swimming meet.

            Rather than focus on building endurance, the girls practiced passing and particularly shooting. According to the coach, Upper Merion struggled to defend the lob shot.

            "I'm happy with how well we've done," said Kalnoski, whose team won the Small School State Title in 2018. "Right now, things are good. I'd like to think consistent coaching has contributed. Small schools like us need to ride the wave.

            According to the coach, the tournament compared favorably to the small-school state tournament, held during normal seasons. The Indians didn't know if they would have a postseason due to concerns over COVID-19.

"When we got to end, we won the games we needed to win," he said.

            Earlier on Friday, the Upper Perkiomen boys team defeated Mechanicsburg in the consolation round. Kalnoski described the match as one of the team's most complete performances of the season.

            The coach lauded the performance of goalkeeper Diego Perguero. Parker Elliot, a ninth-grader, registered his first career goal.

            "We had two real good defensive performances," Kalnoski said. "I'm very proud."