Girls water polo: Stevenson repeats as state champions
Stevenson clamped down on Evanston Saturday to win the girls state water polo title 9-3 in Lincolnshire.
It was the second consecutive state title for the Patriots and their seventh state final appearance in a row. Stevenson is 5-2 in those state final matches.
“It is fun, a lot of fun,” Stevenson coach Jeff Wimer said. “I told the kids to embrace the moment. I told them they have worked so hard and that this was our ultimate goal. In life, we have opportunities, make the most of this opportunity.”
Stevenson (33-1-1) ended the season with a 22-game winning streak. The Patriots have not lost to an Illinois team since the state championship game in 2022, a span of 58 matches.
Wimer said he was impressed with his team’s effort, especially on defense.
“They are a phenomenal defensive team and I said let’s show them what kind of defense we can play. It’s the old adage that defense wins championships and offense wins games. I told them at halftime: Let’s crank up the offense and crank down on the defense.”
The win snapped Evanston’s 11-game winning streak and 18-game streak without a loss. Evanston (24-3-1) had given Stevenson a pair of tough matches earlier this season. Stevenson defeated the Wildkits 5-4 at the end on March and tied 4-4 in early April.
“I told the girls after we tied them that a tie was as good as a loss in my eyes,” Wimer said. “And that it was time to redeem themselves.”
Stevenson got solid performances on both ends of the pool as the Patriots scored four consecutive goals to pull away from a 1-1 tire. Olivia Spieth had a trio of goals while Sophia Brown and Sophia Berger each had two goals. Caroline Bichkoff and Victoria Duncan also scored.
“We like to set the tone and set the speed of the game,” said Spieth, who is a sophomore and had the Patriots’ first two tallies.
“It is important that we start quick and drive a lot and start the offense. I thought we attacked real well tonight.”
Stevenson also had formidable defense led by Jillian Carlson, Bichkoff, Emily Headley, Berger, Duncan and Brown. Goalie Elsa Kusevkis also came up big with seven saves.
“I actually thought I did better in the semifinals,” Kusevskis said. “Our defense really stepped up this game. We knew that Evanston was going to come in hard. If you think about our first two matches, you can see where we improved.”
Stevenson advanced to the finals by beating Lyons 13-4 in the semifinals. Brown and Spieth each had three goals, Duncan two goals and Natalie Hooper, Headley, Arohi Mather, Berger and Mia Guseynova also tallied.
Evanston made it the finals by knocking off Naperville North 3-1 in the first semifinal. Kelsey Wessel scored for Naperville North while Rugie Stackecius made three saves for the Huskies.
Naperville North (31-3-1) then finished fourth, losing to Lyons 12-7 in the third place game. Wessel had three goals while Cate Czochara and Payton Schrier each had two goals for the Huskies.
The state title match was officiated by Colleen Lyons and Tiffany Urbanski with goal judges Amanda Levy and Hannah Falls-Hand. It is the first time in the 22-year history of the IHSA tournament that the match was officiated by an all-woman crew.