A Recap on Fall Sports

Bridget Murphy ’25

Episcopal Academy’s Fall sports were back in action with full rosters, daily practices, and a complete schedule of home and away games. 

GIRLS SPORTS: 

The Girls Varsity Water Polo Team finished up their season with a 4 – 5 record and fought hard for a place in the Inter-Ac Championship after an extremely close defeat to Penn Charter in the semi-finals. Head Coach Maddie DeMund remarks, “We’re back to finally playing normal water polo. We weren’t able to do that last year. We only had three games, so being able to play and have a normal season this year has been super exciting, and we’ve definitely all been craving it for sure.” DeMund explains that the family-like atmosphere within the team has grown since coming back from COVID-19 and that has helped them and will continue to assist them to “build upon the growth that we had this year.”

The Girls’ Varsity Cross Country Team had a 6 – 4 record as well as placing fifth in the Inter-Ac this Fall. Coach Lauren Finnical comments, “We have a great team. Everyone’s been working really hard, so it’s been a great season.” Regarding her senior runners, she remarks, “We had three seniors, Kathryn, Brianna, and Kristen [Kathryn Lynn ‘22, Brianna Bellinghieri ‘22, and Kristen May ‘22]; they were all great leaders. Kathryn, our captain, she just leads by setting a great example and providing a really welcoming and inclusive environment.”

With a 10 – 4 – 1 season record and a thrilling 5 – 0 victory against Notre Dame this Fall, Coach Andrew Fraggos speaks highly of the seniors on the Varsity Girls Soccer Team. “It’s a really special group of kids, they get along so well, they’re great leaders. They work hard on the field. They’re very coachable.” Although the team will greatly miss the seniors next year, Fraggos explains, “Even with losing ten seniors, we have a pretty strong, experienced group of returners coming back with a lot of experience, girls that have had Varsity minutes, and we have some of our girls on our JV program who are really excited to be pulling up to Varsity for next year.”

The Girls’ Varsity Tennis Team finished with a 14 – 2 record, and Head Coach Whitaker Powell reflects on what an amazing season they had, “Fantastic. It was great, actually. I didn’t know what to expect. New team, new positions, other teams that were better, but the girls did a fantastic job.” Powell’s favorite match was their second Baldwin match. He explains, “We didn’t necessarily play our best in certain parts, but they really stuck through it. The match that decided it was a third-set tiebreaker. That could have gone either way, but how they kind of rallied around each other to win that match. I think that was probably the highlight for me.” Next year, Powell says he looks forward to seeing the team’s growth, and he is excited to see how they take on the leadership role without their seniors.

The Varsity field hockey team finished up their season with a 17 – 1 record and won the PAISAA (Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association) championship for the third time consecutively. Co-Captain Olivia Corrato ‘22 remarks, “Being a senior, and especially being a captain, it’s just such a different perspective, knowing that these are the last moments I’ll ever have on this field, after so many years of EA field hockey. I just tried not to take anything for grants.” She explains that as the season went on, even when things were tough, the team began to bond, and “once we brought positivity and focused on positivity as a whole, our passing got better and our overall skills as a team got better.”

BOYS SPORTS:

The Boys Varsity Golf Team finished their season with a 22 – 14 record. Coach Douglas Borgerson remarks that he never has had a team this young. He puts a lot of responsibility on his captains, Eric Morgan and Glenallen Thomas, to communicate to the team because Coach Borgerson feels “sometimes messages are better when they are coming from kids versus coming from a coach.” As for this season, Coach Borgerson explains, “It happened a couple of times that we didn’t have our full line up or our best kids, and other guys played their best. So it was really fun to see because as a coach and as a teacher, you want to see people when they face a little bit of adversity coming through.” Hunter Stetson ‘24, who finished first in the Inter-Ac and second in PAISAA, and Jack Yearley ‘24, who had the best scoring average, are two of the best players in the League, and Coach Borgerson looks forward to next year saying, “Because we’re young, I actually look forward to us competing for a League title and a PAISAA title.”

Boys Varsity Soccer finished the season with an 10 – 7 – 1 record, and whether it was a personal achievement or team effort, Head Coach David Knox explains that each game brought a new memory to the team. Each of the team’s captains, Tristan Whitaker ‘22, Sam Malloy ‘22, and Mark Dzwonczyk ‘22, brought a different attitude and perspective to the game, and that combined, allowed the team to improve with every practice, explains Knox. Knox hopes to continue making more memories for the rest of their season and final games and remarks, “ I think for a successful next year, [the goal] for any coach is to have a strong squad; it’s to have great kids on your team, who want to work hard, who want to get better, and who want to improve in every practice session.”

The Churchmen finished the Varsity Football season with a 6 – 2 record. Coach Todd Fairlie says his favorite memory was the victory against Germantown Academy. Fairlie comments, “We had a good comeback win at home against GA, that was really exciting. And I think that the way that game ended will probably be the top moment of the season so far.” According to Fairlie, Co-Captains Jake Fant ‘22 and Bryce Cooper ‘22 were key factors in the Churchmen’s positive attitude, which helped lead the team to success. Fairlie’s outlook for next year is optimistic, “We return a very experienced team next year, who can lean on the experiences they had this year with great leadership.” 

Boys Varsity Water Polo Coach, Max Kelly, notes of his sea, “It’s been an excellent run and with an amazing team, it’s a very special group. Everyone from our freshmen to our seniors, everyone has a role. And the senior captains have done a phenomenal job, along with the rest of the senior class, of bringing the team together.” His favorite memory of their season was when they defeated Greenwich Country Day School during the Beast of the East tournament. The Boys Water Polo will be losing six seniors this year, but Kelly explains, “We have a phenomenal young core and some really great junior leadership. The future is very bright for EA water polo.” The Boys Water polo Team finished up their season with a 12 – 3 record, clenching the interac title for the first time in 11 years. 

The Boys Varsity Cross Country Team finished with a perfect record of 9 – 0 and placed first in the Inter-Ac as well as the PAISAA (Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association) championship. Head Coach James Farrell explains, “We’re still in the pandemic, so being able to do your sport and sort of getting away from the worry of what’s going on around you sometimes is really a nice break from those challenges.” Farrell looks forward to hopefully gaining a back-to-back championship title next year and states, “Our JV team won both the Inter-Ac and the PAISAA as well. So we’re excited to return a lot of very strong runners, and our goal is to do even better next year.”

Episcopal’s Fall sports seasons ended differently for all teams, however, one thing is for sure, coaches and players alike were happy to be back playing the games they love.