Brooklyn Hustle Gains More Than Pride at South Florida Water Polo Invitational
CORAL SPRINGS, FL. On a Presidents’ Day weekend with the weather in South Florida picture perfect, 54 water polo teams representing 24 clubs competing in four age groups—2008 Coed, 2006 Boys, 2003 Boys and 2003 Girls—spent three days competing in a total of 137 matches, with winners crowned in each division.
In the middle of this glorious assemblage at the South Florida International Water Polo Tournament was the Brooklyn Hustle, which sent 36 boys and girls ages 11 – 18 to the Coral Springs Aquatics Center for the club’s first-ever foray into one of the country’s top age-group tournament. Ranging from Scarlett Lippiatt, the club’s littlest participant, to 18-year-old Oscar Radu, with the Hustle for a decade, the borough of Brooklyn was well-represented.
The competition was fierce, but our athletes comported themselves as well as could be given that some of the nation’s top clubs, from as far away as Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago —along with teams from the Bahamas, Barbados and Puerto Rico—were part of the 19th year this tournament has been organized by the South Florida Water Polo Club.
Brooklyn’s 2008 coed team basking in the glow of the Florida sun.
Coached by Mike Byrd, the Hustle 2008 coed team—with many athletes competing for the first time—started slowly with a loss Friday morning to Navy. The squad broke through that evening with an impressive 16-7 win over a Puerto Rican squad. Two losses on Day Two included a frustrating 12-11 defeat to the Miami Riptides, a local powerhouse. But the Hustle pulled through in a major way Sunday morning, breaking out to an early lead against Mantas from the Bahamas for a 13-8 victory to claim 11th place.
Stars from this effort abounded, with a shout out to Julian Gurshumov, who brilliantly backstopped the 2008 team—and on select occasions the 2006 squad—for most of the tournament, only being spelled from the Hustle cage late in the final game by Max Lippiatt, another standout performer.
Dylan Korogluyev was mostly unstoppable on offence, while Miriam Bradley was undeniable on defense, rallying teammates with her savvy play. Ethan Sanadeze was a great offensive compliment, while Sabrina Kazemi, Leon Bolkhovskiy and Naila Noble were usually in the mix on both sides of the ball. Frank Khayut was tireless in pursuing offensive opportunities; he and Max Korogluyev were lightning quick in fighting for loose balls.
Also strong on defense were Masoume Khonsari, Nathaniel Cohen and Luka Gobronidze—a trio of stoppers who wreaked havoc on their opponent’s attack. Special recognition goes to Nathan Gerber, a late roster addition who proved to be one of the team’s most consistent two-way performers.
The 2006 squad registered an impressive win to close out their visit to Coral Springs.
The 2006 boys’ squad included Kayluan Adams and Bryan Israel, two athletes from the Barbados national team who joined the Hustle effort. Coach Irakli Sanadze’s side got in the water Friday afternoon against Greenwich—arguably one of the country’s best programs. A lopsided loss to the Connecticut club, along with an evening defeat to host South Florida only whetted the squad’s appetite for a win. It came Saturday morning when Noah Castillo joined the team, leading the Hustle to an 11-7 victory over the Raiders from Miami.
Saturday afternoon saw a tight game early with the Riptides turned into a rout late by the locals, despite Nate Schulhoff valiant effort in nets for the visitors. Sunday morning offered a chance for redemption and the Brooklyn club responded with their best game of the tournament, holding off Hialeah, another Miami club, by a score of 11-10. Calvin Radu, Demyan Kruglov, James Baker, Shota Lagvilavga, Dachi Kipshidze, Ethan Lyubronetsky, Israel and the Castillo brothers—Noah and Joaquin—played major roles in the thrilling victory. Schulhoff was the winning goalie as the Hustle claimed 11th place for the 2006 boys’ group.
Also getting into the water for this side were Marko Budurovych and Alex Antelman as well as Dylan, Julian and Max from the 2008 team.
The Hustle 2003 team displayed a tremendous amount of heart despite tough losses.
The 2003 group consisted of the most diverse roster of any team in the tournament. Six players from the Barbados national team joined 10 Hustle athletes in a valiant effort that fell short. Game One on Friday afternoon was against a familiar foe—Navy’s 18U boys—and resulted in a loss. There were defensive miscues that led to another one-sided loss, this time to a Puerto Rican team. Despite the two losses the Brooklynites were convinced they belonged with the 15 other teams.
Team captain Oscar Radu rallied his team after a tough10-6 loss Saturday morning to the Raiders’ 2003 squad, one that saw Brooklyn penalized with 20 exclusions. Saturday afternoon was this group’s most compelling match. Radu, Owen Randazzo, Phillip Bolotin, Nicholas Chopliani, Luke Pertz-Kelly, Ayo Zetlin, Elvis Vintimilla and Sebastian Arteaga of the Hustle teamed up with Anij and Fozio Brewster, Nathan Walker, Kai Trotman and Kah’Ryan Adams from Barbados in a nail-bitter against Central Florida Sun that came down to an amazing goalie save against Brooklyn’s own Aaron Gershkovich. Fozio Brewster of Barbados and Cully McPherson of Brooklyn split goal-tending duties, with McPherson registering a highlight-reel sequence by stuffing a CF Sun player on three straight attempts—part of an excellent weekend for the Connecticut College-bound senior.
Sunday morning saw the Hustle fight tooth and nail against St. Louis Area Polo (SLAP) before running out of gas in the final quarter, leaving the team frustrated by a 12-9 loss—and determined to get back in the pool for another crack at competition.