Full speed ahead for Stevenson

Sure, there was that expected excitement and rejoicing that is usually goes with hoisting the sectional championship hardware.

But you could tell the Stevenson girls water polo team knows it still has a few more steps towards that ultimate goal of winning a state title.

"Everyone wants to continue and we all realize each game could be our last," said utility player Allison Travetto, who scored 6 goals in helping lead the Pats to a 14-1 victory over Palatine for the Buffalo Grove sectional crown on Saturday.

Top-ranked Stevenson, the only unbeaten team left in the state at 33-0, earns a berth in the state quarterfinals. The Pats will be at home for Thursday's 4:30 p.m. quarterfinal against St. Ignatius.

"We have high expectations and try and play hard the entire game," Travetto said.

After the Pirates' Caitlin McHugh scored the game's opening goal, Travetto answered right back when she hauled in a beautiful long pass from Melissa Gartenberg on a breakaway and promptly blasted it past Palatine keeper Tess O'Brien.

"We really settled down after they scored first and just did a great job of anticipating where each other is at in the pool," said Gartenberg, who scored 5 goals of her own to accompany 4 assists and 7 steals. Travetto also dished out 3 assists to go along with 3 steals.

"Total team effort," said Pats coach Jeff Wimer. "I've had a lot of great teams, but this is the best team I've had while coaching here. It's a terrific bunch of young ladies who work hard and have gotten a great idea of what a championship season is."

Travetto scored 2 more goals in the half, while Gartenberg added one as Stevenson built a 5-1 lead at halftime.

The Pats then exploded for 7 unanswered goals in the third to put the game out of reach.

Gartenberg's point-blank shot on O'Brien started things. She ended up scoring 2 more goals in the period and also assisted Travetto on a couple of scores. The Pats were relentless on offense, out-shooting Palatine 10-3 in the third period and 33-17 for the game.

Travetto helped put the finishing touches on the win when she fed attacker Claire Haas and later Gartenberg for the game's final goals in the fourth quarter. Stevenson also got single goals from Alex Adams and Annika Hotchkiss.

And when Palatine had scoring chances, Pats keeper Lauren Burns and the stifling defense were always right there to prevent any further threat.

"It's all timing and anticipation," said Burns, who made 10 saves. "Conditioning is obviously huge, especially with our legs. And our defense was awesome in disrupting a lot of their shots."

Palatine, which made the state quarterfinals last year, ended another successful season at 26-7. McHugh and Caroline Wojtas are among the key Pirates seniors ending their high school careers.

"We worked really hard this season and I couldn't be more proud of the girls," said Palatine coach Mitch Tucker.