Naperville Central headed back to state
When rivals like Naperville Central and Naperville North battle in an athletic contest, the words "you can throw the records out" are used so much that they get the gold membership of the Cliche of the Month Club.
However, after the Redhawks prevailed 8-5 over the Huskies in the girls water polo sectional final Saturday at Neuqua Valley, both sides involved expressed belief that anything is possible when these two water polo teams battle.
The win moved Naperville Central (23-10) to a Thursday 5:45 p.m. Thursday state quarterfinal game against defending state champ Fenwick at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. Fenwick edged Oak Park-River Forest 6-5 to win its own sectional.
The Redhawks return to the Elite Eight after a two-year absence. Going into Saturday, Naperville Central had lost to Naperville North (29-4) twice already this season. And although both teams are ranked in the top 10 of illpolo.com with the Huskies at No. 3 and the Redhawks at No. 9, Naperville Central coach Jeff Plackett said his team knew it had a big challenge ahead of it.
"We went in feeling like the underdog. I don't think people, beyond the 14 girls on this team and their parents, gave us much of a chance," he said. "You just have to trust in the magic of the end of the season."
Junior Kaela Codo, who scored 8 goals in the Friday 10-7 semifinal victory over Sandburg, led the Redhawks again with 3 goals, and 2 of her passes set up two other scores. Emily Rodgers hit for 2 goals and Alli Hansen, Anne Marie Gunn and Emily Westlove had 1 apiece.
"I couldn't be happier. We knew facing North wasn't going to be easy," Hansen said. "Our defense did a lot of great things things today."
Both defenses were very aggressive at the start with at least three defenders in front of Naperville Central goalie Faith Vandercar and Naperville North goalie Christina McBride and their hands up. The first score came courtesy of a penalty throw by Katie Horn, the first of two successfully made by the Huskies. Naperville Central tied the game 48 seconds later thanks to Rodgers, who took a pass from Codo and did the only thing she could do with the defenses playing well. She waited patiently until she got the shot she wanted.
The Huskies took a 2-1 advantage on the first of 3 goals by Jilian Eiken with 3:22 left in the opening quarter. Just seconds before, a Naperville North shot had hit the goalpost.
Naperville Central had a 3-2 halftime lead thanks to a converted penalty throw by Codo and another goal by her just 48 seconds earlier. The scoring was quiet until late in the third quarter when Codo was left all alone to tie the game at 3 with 1:54 remaining. With just 16 seconds to play, Hansen was left alone close to the net and gave the Redhawks a 4-3 advantage at quarter's end.
The Redhawks scored 3 unanswered goals to start the fourth quarter from Rodgers, Westlove and Codo for a 7-3 lead. Naperville North finally responded with 3:48 remaining on a penalty throw by Eiken and then Eiken scored with a 1:02 left. Gunn finished things up with a score with 42 seconds on the clock to put the finishing touches on the win. Naperville North defeated Naperville Central 9-8 last season in the sectional final.
"Any time you have a sectional final between Naperville North and Naperville Central, the rivalry between them is going to add an unknown element to the sport. Last year it worked to our favor," said Huskies coach Andy McWhirter.
Plackett praised the defensive efforts of Vandercar and Jennifer Oliver.
"We have confidence and believe in ourselves," Vandercar said. "I'm so proud of this team and looking forward to heading to state and play as hard as we can."