FORT WASHINGTON – Two weeks had passed since Germantown Academy's boys' water polo team was last in action, but they showed no signs of rust when Archbishop Spalding came to town on Sept. 21. Behind seven goals from Andrew Thompson ’25, five apiece from Colin Minehan ’25 and Jack Dillon ’26, and one from Nayan Shah ’27, the Patriots cruised to an 18-8 victory over the Cavaliers.

The win was especially meaningful for Thompson, who passed Walker Butler ’20 to become the program's all-time leading scorer with 354 goals.

“It feels great, but I couldn’t have done it by myself,” Thompson said. “Without my teammates getting me the ball, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Thompson entered the match four goals behind Butler’s record of 351. Late in the third quarter, he netted the record-breaking goal, adding a few more in the fourth. With more than 20 games remaining, Thompson has a chance to put the record out of reach—something he has thought about, though he hopes to see it broken eventually.

“I think it would be awesome for someone to come along and break it,” Thompson said. “Putting it out of reach would be nice, but it would be huge for Mike and the GA water polo program to have someone come in that can reach that total and break it.”

The Patriots started strong, jumping out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter and holding a commanding 9-3 advantage at halftime. Head coach Mike Koziol said the team had a phenomenal week of practice, and it showed in those early quarters.

“Our intensity has been really high, and I think that showed with the way we jumped out on defense right away,” Koziol said. “We’re trying new things defensively to make teams uncomfortable, and that was really fun to watch. This group is going to score a lot of goals, but if they can play good defense, they’ll be really hard to beat.”

GA matched their goal output in the second half and was able to get younger players some valuable experience in the pool—something Koziol mentioned as crucial for the team’s long-term success. With aspirations of an Inter-Ac League title, the coach knows how important depth will be as they aim to end Haverford’s run of five straight championships. Of course, having players like Thompson doesn’t hurt.

“When the whistle blows, there’s no question he’s going to do everything he can to make his team better,” Koziol said. “He started as a very offense-focused freshman, but I think his best attribute is his defense. His defense in space allows us to do a lot because he’s so active. His effort and his defense allow us to be creative with the other guys.”

Germantown Academy returns to action on Sept. 25, when they host The Hill School for a 4:30pm match.