Palatine repeats as MSL champs
Those players that were missing the first time Wheeling and Palatine met in boys water polo made a big difference the second time.
Seniors Dylan Weissmann and Kamil Mulawa scored 5 goals apiece as the Pirates got ahead quickly and stayed comfortably ahead of Wheeling in the Mid-Suburban League championship game. Host Palatine won 12-4 Thursday before vocal fans representing both programs.
It’s a repeat league title for Palatine, but this game bore little resemblance to a double-overtime victory for Palatine in late March. Weissman and Mulawa didn’t play in that game due to injuries, and the Pirates were also without another starter, John Giuliano, for one half.
Mulawa scored on three consecutive possessions in the first quarter, the third time on a nifty backhand to help Palatine (23-5) take a 3-0 lead. Each time, his position was established after the Pirates forced a turnover.
“We’ve really been working on our counter-attack, and the reason that’s so important is because it gives our hole set room to work with in front of the goal, before the defense really gets set,” Mulawa said. “It just so happened it worked out well for me, but those goals were the product of everybody playing great denial on defense.”
“I thought the key was they really outswam us,” said Wheeling coach J.R. Means. “That’s really something we need to work on.”
Palatine led 6-1 before the Wildcats (15-7) began to regularly turn in defensive stops of their own. The mid-game Palatine scoring slump ended, though, when the Pirates bunched together 4 goals in the final three minutes of the third quarter to take a 10-2 lead.
The outcome likely would have featured more scoring if not for superlative goalkeeping on both ends. In addition to several terrific reflex saves, all-conference pick Dan Sommerfeld of Palatine was aggressive coming out of the goal and finished with 9 steals. Wheeling’s Shane McDade faced pressure the whole way but never flinched and even stopped Mulawa one-on-one in front of the goal on a breakaway late in the game.
In the end, Palatine’s overall edge in defensive intensity might have made the difference. Weissman’s work defending the hole prevented Wheeling from getting consistent offense generated from in front of the goal and led to a decisive edge for the Pirates in possession and fastbreak chances.
Twice in the second half, Justin Behrens earned the offensive advantage on a fastbreak and provided Mulawa with a touch pass for a quick finish.
“Our counters are really important to what we’re trying to do,” said Palatine coach Joe Grzybek. “It’s really the main thing we’ve worked on this season as a team, so it’s good to see it pay off for us.”
Andy Eiter led Wheeling with 2 goals. Both teams will compete in next week’s Vernon Hills sectional, where the Pirates have earned the No. 1 seed.
“It feels great to win, because we knew were capable of this,” said Mulawa, a portion of his right eye stained crimson from a blood vessel broken in the action against Wheeling. “We knew it would be an intense game. Everybody played their role really well for us and everybody should get credit for how things turned out.”