Naperville North scores key triumph
Obviously a victory is good any time, but when that win was earned by overcoming some challenges it has to be a little more satisfying.
Case in point is Naperville North's 11-9 boys water polo win over visiting Lockport on Tuesday. The Porters came into the game ranked 10th in the illpolo.com rankings and undefeated at 6-0.
And the Huskies overcame the strong goaltending of Pat Melaniphy and the aim of Zach Elias, who led his team with 4 goals, including 3 in the final quarter that were all half-pool shots.
The win improved Naperville North, ranked seventh in the state, to 6-4.
"We fought through and played against a really good team. Lockport fought hard," said Huskies coach Martin Bell. "We're not doing phenomenal, but everyone we have lost to has been a top 10 team, possibly a top five. We have a lot to learn. But it's tough when you graduated 10 seniors."
The momentum shift that played the biggest factor in deciding the contest occurred late in the second quarter. The Huskies' Drake McClure, who finished with 3 goals, hit the crossbar on a 5-meter shot. McClure would soon have a chance to correct that.
About a minute later, Elias scored to put the Porters up 5-3 and that was the score at halftime. However, a clerical error was found and it was discovered that a Lockport player had not served all the time for his ejection.
According to Bell, the rules state that Naperville North had the option of going back to the point where the player returned early. That was 3:51 of the second quarter when McClure took the 5-meter shot. Naperville North chose to go back to that point and Elias' goal was erased and Lockport led just 4-3. Porters coach Joe Lewandowski told officials during the discussion about the matter at the scorer's table that he was filing a protest with the IHSA.
McClure got a second crack at a 5-meter shot when played resumed at that point to tie the match at 4.
Lockport scored two unanswered goals to make it 6-4 before Reilly McDonnell and Joe Tomashek closed the second quarter with goals to tie things up at 6-6. Tomashek racked up 3 goals on the night.
McDonnell, a junior, grabbed a rebound three minutes into the third quarter for his second goal of the game and gave the Huskies a 7-6 advantage. Naperville North never trailed the rest of the game.
"When we replayed part of the second quarter, we had a lot of energy. It was a once-in-a-lifetime situation and we took advantage of it and the seniors led the way," McDonnell said.
Cole Jacobs and Tomashek also tallied goals in the third quarter and Naperville North led 9-6 after it. McClure and David Holzer, who scored 2 goals, hit net in the final quarter to help keep the Porters at bay.
Winning goalie Jack Roche made 9 saves.