Saint Thomas Aquinas Men’s Water Polo wins the 2026 Florida High School Water Polo State Championship
On April 24th-25th, 2026, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School in west Miami played host to the 2026 rendition of the Florida High School Athletic Association water polo state championships where the top four teams on the men’s and women’s side would compete for the claim as this season’s best in the state. A long season that began in late January would see on the male side of the competition bring the two top-ranked teams to collide once again, for the fourth time this season the #1-ranked Ransom Everglades Raiders would take on the #2-ranked Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders. Saint Thomas Aquinas lead by a coaching staff of our own club in Michael Goldenberg, Eric Goldenberg and Gal Ben Kiki, had lost to Ransom on three prior meetings this season, the first being at the Ian Supra Memorial Tournament in Orlando hosted by Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando with a score of 11-8, the two following engagements would both be golden goal victories to the Miami-based Ransom Everglades with scores of 16-15 and 12-11, however, the Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders came into the game with a big 14-game win streak and several big wins to reach the final game.
While Ransom would outlast a gauntlet of games to surmount the Miami region and reach the state semifinal they would defeat Gulliver Preparatory School in an overtime victory in the regional semifinal then defeat Columbus in the region final to find themselves in a massive clash against the defending state champions, Westminster Academy on April 24th in the state championship semifinal. An incredible game between the Westminster and Ransom would see Ransom prevail in a tough overtime victory that would match them against Saint Thomas Aquinas on April 25th.
Saint Thomas’s path to the final game was slower to begin, however, it also saw tight games the farther into the playoffs they reached. Two resounding victories in their region’s early stages lead to a clash against region rival, Miami Country Day School, a team that has competed against Saint Thomas Aquinas High School for a fourth straight regional championship title, however, in an incredibly close game, it would once again be Saint Thomas Aquinas that would prevail with a score of 10-9 with the game-winning goal with a minute to spare coming from the hand of Senior attacker and University of the Pacific signee, Sam Eastaugh. The regional title victory would be followed up on April 24th, when the #2-ranked STA Raiders would take on #3-ranked Sanford Seminoles, a clash between two senior-ladened teams would see STA grab an early lead that it would not relinquish and come atop with a score of 13-10 on the back of a superhuman performance from Junior goalkeeper, Marcell Varhalmi, who posted 18 saves, 3 steals, 1 assist and one goal.
Your 2026 FHSAA Men’s Water Polo State Champions, Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders.
At 3 PM on April 25th, following the women’s championship game, the Fort Lauderdale based Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders would dive into the pool to compete against the Miami-based Ransom Everglades. It would be Ransom who would score the first of the game to take the early lead in the game at 1-0. However, a penalty drawn off a rebound by sophomore utility player, Matthew Lapin, would see Sam Eastaugh step up to fire in a quick penalty to the bottom right corner to tie the game at 1-1. That tie would be short lived as the very next possession a defensive breakdown by STA would leave Ransom’s center to convert an easy tip shot to rebuild Ransom’s lead which would be the last time in the game Ransom would be ahead. The next possession would see Saint Thomas draw a power play, though it broke down from an early shot great hustle from Senior attacker John Corbett would recover the possession in favor of the STA Raiders, several passes would find Senior center defender Holden Harkins, Holden who is also the long-snapper for the vaunted Saint Thomas Aquinas football team and a Florida International University signee, would bury a powerful skip shot from the right-hand side of the power play to tie the game again at 2-2. Several possessions later it would be Sam Eastaugh who would create an advantage on the counter-attack on the left side, an outlet pass from Marcell Varhalmi in the goal would allow Sam to probe the defense and pull two defenders to him, that would leave Senior attacker Tommasso Leonardi wide open in a dangerous position, Tommy would then place a beautiful lob across the goal to give STA its very first lead of the game at 3-2. Ransom would answer the call when their left-hander would receive the ball on the post and complete a strong turn into a finish to tie the game at 3-3, however, the following possession would see a strong shot from John Corbett rebound back into the field of play, that would be when Senior utility player and STA’s leader in goals on the season, Lev Konnikov, would display his tenacity in front of the goal as he would take the rebound with a defender draped all over him, he would explode vertically and convert a strong finish to re-establish the lead for STA at 4-3, a score that would be taken into the first break.
The second quarter would start with STA delivering the first goal after several defensive stops by both teams, Lev Konnikov would find Sam Eastaugh in a favorable position on the counter-attack, a great entry pass from Lev would see Sam separate and finish a great goal to double STA’s lead to 5-3, however, Ransom would put the ball into the arm of one of their premier right-handers who would bury a shot past the outstretched field blocks of the Saint Thomas Aquinas blockers to ensure Ransom would not fall behind too early. Then came another big goal for STA when a very patient attack from the STA Raiders would see Holden Harkins deliver a cross pass to John Corbett who fearlessly scooped the ball off the water and laced a beautiful shot into the upper sector of the net to rebuild STA’s lead to 6-4. A power play defensive stand for STA the very next possession would see Marcell Varhalmi come up with a big save that would fuel the counter-attack for Sam Eastaugh and Lev Konnikov, a connection that has developed through years of competing at club level together would see Sam Eastaugh time Lev’s separation from the Ransom defender, a perfect pass would allow Lev to draw another penalty shot. The penalty would be converted by Sam who would complete his first half hat-trick on a powerful quick skip shot to the left side of the goal to establish a 7-4 lead. With STA starting to pull away, Ransom would begin to raise their intensity and physicality as they would convert two quick goals to bring the score back to 7-6 in favor of STA. However, Sam Eastaugh would ensure Ransom would not tie the game as he would score a counter-attack goal with defenders behind him after a beautiful pass from Marcell Varhalmi which came off a save by him and a field block on the rebound by John Corbett, though STA would build the 8-6 lead, Ransom would have the last goal of the quarter, keeping STA once again within one goal at 8-7 in favor of the Fort Lauderdale based Raider squad.
The third quarter belonged to Saint Thomas Aquinas, coming out of half-time roaring STA would win the third quarter 5-1, the processions started immediately after STA would take a power play drawn at the last second of the second quarter into the third quarter where Sam Eastaugh would find Holden Harkins in dangerous space, a thundering nearside skip shot from Holden on the right-hand side of the pool would see STA establish a two goal lead with a 9-7 scoreline. Marcell Varhalmi would then prove humungous in the goal as Ransom would draw a penalty, however, Marcell’s presence would force the shooter to slam the ball off the crossbar, the momentum swing would follow with another power play drawn by STA. Sam Eastaugh would bury his fifth goal of the game after a timeout was called by the STA coaches to allow the players to catch their breath and set up a play, a sequence of passes and movements by the STA players would find Sam open alone on the left hand side of the pool where he would deliver a powerful nearside skip shot to turn up the momentum even more in favor of Saint Thomas Aquinas. With Saint Thomas firing on all cylinders, it would be their defense that would fuel their offense, several power play stops and strong defensive stands would see STA take the counter-attacks to a new level, a 4-on-3 counter-attack would turn into a 3-on-2 and then into a 2-on-1, as both Lev Konnikov and Sam Eastaugh would swim hard but unselfishly pass the ball to open teammates as Ransom began to rush out to attackers, Sam would then find Holden Harkins again as he did earlier in the quarter, Holden with all the time given to him would step up strong on his legs and fire a powerful skip shot across the goal to establish STA’s biggest lead of the game thus far at 11-7 and completing his own hat-trick. Even a time out from Ransom would prove impossible to stop the ravaging Raiders of STA as the following offensive possession for Saint Thomas it would be Lev Konnikov from the center position who would slam home a stunning skip shot with three defenders around him for his second of the game and to establish a 12-7 lead. Another defensive stop by STA would once again create an advantage for them on the counter-attack on the right-hand side of the pool when John Corbett would deliver a stunning cross pass to Matthew Lapin who would finish the shot after a strong fake to give Saint Thomas its largest lead of the game at 13-7. Though visibly rattled Ransom would manage to have the last goal of the quarter as they would keep STA within touching distance with a score of 13-8 heading into the final stanza.
In the fourth quarter Ransom would score four goals, however, it was all too late with STA playing slower to run down the clock, Ransom would still convert on several mistakes from the Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders. However, their last goal would come with only 12 seconds left in the game, with Saint Thomas passing the ball around to run the clock, Ransom would bring their goalkeeper out to pressure Saint Thomas, however, Lev Konnikov would fire home a full court skip shot to end the game with a 14-12 scoreline. With barely any time left on the clock, Ransom would simply put the ball in play and after it was elated pandemonium for the Saint Thomas Aquinas Raiders as players, coaches and former players in the stands would all find themselves jumping into the pool to celebrate in what is regarded as the greatest “Gatorade” bath in all of sports.
With the 14-12 victory for the Saint Thomas Aquinas Men’s Water Polo team brought to STA athletics its 140th state championship and to its own program its third state title following the 2013 and 2023 triumphs, this state title puts the STA men’s water polo team in rare air in the ranks of Florida high school water polo as only Gulliver Preparatory School, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and Saint Thomas Aquinas have three or more state championships on the male side of competition.
It is a legacy moment also for five of the athletes on the team, as they were also a part of the 2023 STA state championship team, those athletes being John Corbett, Tommasso Leonardi, Lev Konnikov, Holden Harkins and Sam Eastaugh, they will be leaving behind the ultimate legacy of winning as two-time state champions as well as a culture and standard of trust, work ethic and a single vision from a tight-knit group.
The moment is also bittersweet for the program as legendary head coach Michael Goldenberg will be calling it a career as the head coach after 20 legendary seasons at the helm. In his time, Coach Goldenberg would see his beloved Raiders men’s program reach the state championship tournament 19 out of 20 years along with the three state championships in 2013, 2023 and 2026, he leaves with him a legacy of winning, accountability, honesty and a passion for athlete and player development that is rarely seen or matched, though he will remain around the program, he will be taking a step back from duties as the head coach of the program.
We are incredibly proud to be able to say that a large number of the athletes and the coaches of the state championship
winning high school program train and coach year-round with our club program as it shows the incredible work they all do
day in and day out at our practices.
