Girls water polo / Scouting Northwest

BarringtonCoach Mark Markwell has a mostly young team with which to work, so the Fillies will keep an eye on season-long development as they gain experience and try to improve on last year's 11-18 finish. The main players are expected to be junior goalie Ellie Connors, and in the field senior Lily Padula, juniors Mia Latimer and Isabella Rojas and sophomores Heidi Pallan, Andrea Potgieter, Nicole Runtz and Willa Wu. "We are a very young team yet this year and we just want to be competitive and have fun in all our games and tournaments," Markwell said. "We have some players from last year's JV team rounding out our varsity team this year, so we have a good mix of new and returning players. Our goal is to improve every game and try to peak at the end of the season and have a good run in the sectional tournament." That improvement started to show Saturday, as Potgieter had 4 goals in a 10-5 victory over Buffalo Grove.

Buffalo GroveExperience will be a strong point for the Bison and coach Jeffrey Skalon, who counts three key seniors and seven total among the reasons for high expectations. Skalon says he expects the Bison, who finished 11-17 overall last season, to be competitive in the Mid-Suburban East and possibly contend for the divisional title in what is shaping up as a very competitive group. Key among the contributors will be senior co-captain Jessi Graziano (left wing), senior co-captain Katherine Kirsh (2-meter defender) and senior goalie Rebecca Gaare. Graziano (3 goals) and Kirsh (2) accounted for all BG's scoring in a 10-5 loss to Barrington on Saturday.

ConantIt was a breakthrough season for Conant last year, as the Cougars went unbeaten through the Mid-Suburban West on the way to a 26-7 overall record. That's not to say it was a completely satisfying finish, though - Conant fell to Wheeling the MSL title game, then dropped its sectional final matchup at Palatine to see its postseason cut short. Coach Justin Bickus says his program his hungry for a deeper postseason run - and it sure looks like he's got the players to make one. Start with senior standout Carmen Rosas, a dominant presence in the league the last two years and bound for a future in water polo at Brown University. The program's all-time leading scorer is a matchup problem for any team playing Conant this spring. Senior goalie Maddy Demaret is among the league's elite; she's back along with junior 2-meter defender Sam Wooley and senior wing Emily Weingart. Bickus is counting on less experienced players such as Bobby Smigla, Miranda Fenlon, Shannon Maloney, Paulina Chowaniec and Claire Rosas to round out the team's effort. "It was awesome to win a division title and our team really savored last season and everything that came with it, especially being an underdog at the beginning of the season," Bickus said. "I think we still have that mindset from top to bottom of being an undergog, and of course we're disappointed with the way our season ended last year. But we aren't being shy about our goals of repeating in the division and challenging as conference and sectional champions."

Elk GroveCoach Jason Spjuth looks to take a program that struggled to a 2-23 record last year and quickly make some demonstrative games. That looks likely based on early results, which included a 17-6 victory over Vernon Hills. Three key players Spjuth will be counting on had big production in that outcome, as junior Lilly Lawrin had 6 goals and 5 assists, junior Alyssa Rosenorn had 4 goals and 4 assists and sophomore Lindsey Hendren had 3 goals and 3 assists. "Overall we have a young team and there is a lot of potential for the future of the program," Spjuth said. "We expect to surprise teams this year with our improved play and development of talent over the course of the off-season."

FremdThe main challenge for Fremd and coach Ray Roth this year is making the best of a difficult situation with pool time. As the Vikings' own pool is renovated, Fremd is being forced into later practice and game times at other sites. The good news is that there's a handful of key players back from a team that finished 6-4 in the MSL West (and 13-17 overall). Roth expects the key figures to be senior utility Emma Hoffman, senior utility Tami Carlson, senior field palyer Nicole Degla and junior goalie Emma Jeronimus. Most recently, the Vikings went 2-0-1 at Loyola tournament on Saturday, tying the Ramblers 6-6 and getting decisive wins against Bremen and Lincoln-Way Central as Carlson and Hoffman led the way on offense.

HerseyThe team that tied for second place in the Mid-Suburban East and ended up 17-9 last season has high hopes for another big season. Coach Megan Brownley's key players figure to be senior wing Katie Lutz, senior 2-meter defender Elizabeth Niersbach, junior wing Stephanie Surkin and freshman driver Katie Lindgren. Sophomores Karolina Niemiec and goalie Emily Van Grinsven will also be big contributors, and Brownley is hoping to see the team's work improve with each passing week. "We are looking to be even more competitive by the end of the season," Brownley said. "The starting lineup played together all winter with American Water Polo and have great chemistry together. We are so excited for a great season."

Hoffman EstatesCoach Chris Fetterman's program took its lumps last season in his first go-round as Hoffman Estates' girls coach, but the outlook is much brighter this spring for the Hawks. "After going 1-26 last season," said Fetterman, "the only way to go is up." Helping Hoffman Estates head in that direction will be returning juniors Francia Morales (2-meter set) and Jenny Fermaintt (center). Two newcomers who should have a positive impact are junior wing Ann Cho and freshman utility player Karen Greenwalt. "Most of our players had successful swim seasons, played in summer league and have gotten quite a bit bigger, stronger and have become overall better athletes," Fetterman said. "We are continuing our building efforts and will put up a fight in every game we play in. Our goal is to play the game the right way and eventually that will turn into wins."

Maine WestCoach Brett Unruh's team surpassed the .500 mark last year in a 16-15 overall finish (and 2-2 in the Central Suburban North). With several familiar faces back from that squad and encouraging early returns, it seems the Warriors are building some momentum. The Warriors dropped a 7-2 decision to the team ranked No. 10 by illpolo.com, Evanston, but bounced back with a victory over Elk Grove in which Kristen Burker and Holly Wasicak scored 7 goals apiece. Against the Grens, the main playmakers were Emily Morrison (5 assists) and Annie Picchiotti (4 assists), and goalie Lily Jensen stopped 7 shots as Maine West limited Elk Grove to 13 shots on goal.

PalatineLast year was a high-water mark for the Pirates, as they won the sectional they hosted and earned a first trip to the state quarterfinals, where they played competitively in a loss to Mother McAuley. Coach Mitch Tucker's team finished 27-6 and returns many key figures responsible for those numbers, including seniors Caroline Wojtas (sectional MVP, all-state), senior Caitlin McHugh (all-sectional, all-conference) and senior Jackie Kincanon, a three-year starter. Three juniors who got significant varsity time and production last year are also back - Tess O'Brien, who will spend time in both the field and goal, along with Kristin Anderson and Mathilde Mogensen. The goals haven't changed for Tucker and Palatine, who hope to win an MSL title, repeat as sectional champs and win at least one game at state and bring home what would be the program's first state trophy. First things first, though: Coming out on top in the MSL West will be no easy task. "The MSL West should be a really tight race this year between us, Conant and Fremd," Tucker said.

ProspectProspect tied for second in the Mid-Suburban East and returns most of the key components of the group that produced a 14-2 overall record. Those facts have many pegging the Knights as a team to watch this spring, and the results in the early going have certainly been encouraging for Prospect and coach Natalie Tucker. Niki Neumann, Danielle McCallister and Michelle Vuong have been among the scoring leaders, and Gracie Dix figures to be a steady producer. Goalie Lauren Broz is both a top shot-blocker and excels at getting the offense up and running. Both Neumann and Broz earned inclusion on illpolo.com's preseason all-state teams. The Knights picked up a great 6-5 win Saturday in tournament play against host New Trier, which was ranked No. 7 in the state, but also suffered setbacks against another pair of top-15 foes, Sandburg and Evanston.

Rolling MeadowsCoach Kelli Lussow's team made some nice gains last year. True, a record of 8-21 doesn't sound all that impressive on its own. But taken in context with the win totals from the two previous seasons - 0 and 1 - it's a quantum leap forward. Lussow is cautiously optimistic about this year team due to a generally young profile. The Mustangs lost six seniors to graduation - but also had six players play polo in the high school off-season. Key returners include senior Erin Pletch (wing/flat), juniors Lizzie Hardt (wing/flat), Sara Leudloff (wing/flat) and Anna Frantom (wing/flat) and sophomore goalie Betsy Zanocco. "We are so pumped up for the upcoming season," said Lussow. "Looking to try to get to .500, and because we are so young, I think definitely it is going to be a building year."

SchaumburgIt's all about progress for the Saxons and coach Beth Donatucci, whose team was competitive in the MSL West last year and finished 8-15 overall. Seniors expected to contribute include Katrina Vargo (goalie), Clair Lynch, Britney Vasquez, Lily Becker and Danielle J. Grubb. The juniors include Riley Houts, Renata Vargo, Jessica Bukielski, Becca Kasner and Alexa Patti, and the sophomores are Emiley Droege, Hannah Pearson and Brianna Vasquez. "We have a lot of growing to do as a team and hope to improve one game to the next," Donatucci said. "Our eye is on sectionals and working toward a strong finish. We have made progress from our first game to the next, and hope to continue becoming stronger as a team and individuals."

Wheeling

The Wildcats made history last season by becoming the first Mid-Suburban East champ to claim the overall MSL title, in an overtime decision at Conant. Coach Bob Savitt's team finished 20-10 overall, and Wheeling returns four starters from that squad - including first-team senior all-stater Theresa Godlewski, a potential All-American this season. The other key returning cogs are juniors Argelia Diaz (driver), Jenna Pink (goalie) and Adrienne Rozmuz (driver). Also taking prominent roles will be juniors Juliana Isayeva (utility) and Paulina Stolarska (utility), along with freshman center Kate Godley. Savitt is looking forward to how the team will look late in the season, when standout defender Shannon Richards returns to the team full-time after finishing her commitment to the lead role in the school's musical. "We'll probably experience some growing pains early in the season and we learn to play with our new starters," he said, "but with Shannon in the lineup, I think we can hang with the best teams in the state. And hopefully, this will be the first year that we make it to state. We hope to show everyone that once again, we are a small but mighty team."