Top-ranked Ransom boys water polo handles pressure, advances to state final four
All season long, they’ve been dealing with the heavy burden of high expectations.
Being the No. 1 ranked team in the state is one thing. But the No. 1 team in the entire country?
That’s the weight the Ransom Everglades boys’ water polo players have been carrying. On Thursday night, it got put to the test again.
Taking on a Columbus team bubbling with momentum from a huge 22-21 win over rival Belen Jesuit 48 hours earlier, and on a Cinderella run making its first regional final appearance in 16 years, the Raiders found themselves in a tight 6-6 battle midway through the third period.
But thanks to big games from seniors Lincoln Broad and Jack Merrick, Ransom scored five straight times to open up an 11-6 lead and hang on for an 11-8 victory in a Region 4 final at the Gulliver Aquatic Center.
In search of only their third state title and first since 2017, the Raiders (27-2) advance to the state final four at Belen Jesuit where they will face Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy in one state semifinal at either 6:30 or 8 on April 24. St. Thomas Aquinas, which beat Miami Country Day 10-9, will face Seminole in the other state semifinal. The state championship match will be on April 25 at 3 at Belen.
The Raiders will make their first final four appearance since 2018, and enter as the No. 1 seed.
“We faced them (Columbus) twice during the season, and they stayed right with us both times so we weren’t surprised when we were 6-6 with them in the third,” said Broad, who led the way with five goals. “I think it was just a matter of us sticking together as a team and figuring things out and doing what we had to do. It’s our first time back to state in eight years so this is a really exciting time for us. We’re super pumped to try and bring that state championship home next week.”
After jumping out in front 3-0 after the first period and 4-1 midway through the second, Ransom could not hold the lead as the Explorers (20-8), who were looking for only their second-ever berth in the state final four (having finished runner-up to Boca Raton St. Andrews in 2010) rallied by scoring four of the next five goals to forge a 5-5 halftime tie.
Still locked up at six late in the third, the Raiders finally got the separation they were looking for when they scored three quick goals within 90 seconds from Broad, Merrick and Jay Holly to open up a 9-6 lead going to the fourth.
Merrick and Broad then each scored a goal at the 5:26 and 4:39 mark, respectively to give their team an 11-6 lead and the big Ransom-Everglades crowd began an early celebration.
“Being the No. 1 team makes whoever you play want to beat you a lot more every time you jump in the pool,” said Merrick, who scored the hat trick three goals. “But it also gives us a sense of pride and responsibility that we always are going to have to be playing at our best every time we go out and play. I guess we’ll be the target at Belen next week but we want this so bad. We’ve all been together for a long time and have worked so hard to get to this point. Now we need to finish it up.”
Columbus tried to rally on goals by Connor Phelan and Francisco Vazquez, the second coming with 3:02 left but the Raiders then did a solid job of good defense and soaking up the shot clock on each possession after that to secure the win.
“This team has been together for so long and been working towards this, they deserved this moment today,” said associate head coach Petar Solomun who has temporarily taken over for long-time head coach Eric Lefebvre, who is on a leave of absence after his wife gave birth to their first child. “The pressure, the expectations, it hasn’t been easy on these boys. Today there were a lot of ups and downs, but they just kept their cool, stayed focused and it eventually paid off in the end.”
This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 9:04 AM.