Rivals Chelsea and Dexter opened the 2024 boys water polo season, with the Dreadnaughts fending off a late comeback from the Bulldogs to emerge victorious 9-8 on Thursday night.

Chelsea struck first with a goal from Josh Levine, but the Dreads responded with goals from Chance McArtor and Dane Lee to lead 2-1 after the first half.

Lee scored twice more early in the second period and McArtor scored his second goal of the game to give Dexter a 5-1 lead.

The Bulldogs scored just before halftime when Levine scored his second goal of the game, making the score 5-2 at halftime.

Ethan Vance opened the third period with two goals to increase the Dreadnaughts’ lead to 7-2, but Chelsea responded with a goal from Lucas Brekke to make it 7-3.

Lee scored his fourth goal of the game to give Dexter an 8-3 lead, but the Bulldogs caught up.

Zach Christie and Matthew Hurden scored for the Bulldogs and Levine scored his third goal of the night to cut the lead to 8-6 before McArtor scored his third goal for Dexter to make it 9-6 after three periods.

Chelsea reduced the lead to 9-7 with Christie’s second goal of the night and pulled within 9-8 with Levine’s fourth goal of the game.

Dexter took a timeout with 22 seconds left, but was able to run down the clock and secure the win.