Westminster's Troche and Aquinas' Andres are the Broward Water Polo Players of the Year
Westminster Academy's Matthew Troche has been regarded for some time as one of the top young boys water polo players in the nation.
On the girls' side, St. Thomas Aquinas' Riley Andres has earned plenty of accolades during her first three years playing the sport at the high school level.
This season, Troche and Andres each took their respective games to higher levels and elevated their teams in the process.
As a result, Troche and Andres are the Miami Herald's Broward County Water Polo Players of the Year.
Troche transferred to Westminster Academy from Cooper City and joined a team that was already loaded with talent.
But Troche helped the Lions take things to a higher level and led them to their first-ever state championship.
Trohe finished the season with 88 goals, 56 assists and 43 steals while helping Westminster Academy earn the top ranking in the state. The Lions then backed up that rating by securing two hard-fought wins at state by one goal over Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas and Mater Lakes.
'It's amazing. We knew we'd be a high-contesting team from the start. But from the way this team put it together, it's just amazing,' Troche said after the Lions won the state title in late April. 'We put our faith in God and kept pushing and pushing until the final buzzer. If you keep going, anything is possible.'
Andres began playing water polo four and a half years ago and quickly showed her talent in the pool.
This season, she became even more of a prolific scorer for the Aquinas girls team, scoring 175 goals and had 54 steals on defense to help the Raiders advance to the regional finals.
'I play this sport because I love the water, and I love winning,' Andres said. 'I swam competitively for nine years and later realized that wasn't really what I wanted to do. I have a great view of the pool and a strong shot and I worked hard.'
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