Fenwick stops Barrington

Win, lose, or draw, it's what you learn and take away from the experience that is perhaps the most important lesson.

And even though they were on the short end of a 16-9 decision to top-ranked Fenwick in the state quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at Stevenson, the Barrington boys water polo players can hold their heads high, because this team definitely opened some eyes this season.

"To be the best, you have to beat the best," said Broncos coach Rob Emary, the main structural force behind the team the last two seasons as Scott Krasinski led practices and in-game decisions.

The result of that coaching partnership and the hard work of the players has been evident: A Mid-Suburban League championship, a sectional championship and now a nice showing against what has historically been the state's top water polo program.

Barrington wraps up its best-ever season with a 29-3 record following the program's first trip to the Elite Eight.

"We played well against one of the top programs around, and this is the farthest that our program has ever advanced," said Emary. "I am super proud of how we played today and hung in there."

Barrington gave the mighty Friars all they could handle for the first three periods.

Fenwick was up 4-0 before you could blink, but Broncos senior driver and captain Chase Lesniak scored when his shot grazed off the outstretched fingertips of Fenwick keeper Will Skowron to make it 4-1. That was followed by a rifled shot from mid-pool by senior 2-meter standout Matt Gouskos as Barrington closed the period with a little momentum, trailing only 4-2.

The Broncos stayed the course and hung tough in the second. Driver Charlie Hoffmann dished to Lesniak, and Gouskos later scored unassisted as Barrington trailed only 6-4 after the first 14 minutes.

"They (Fenwick) started fast and I don't think they were expecting us to come back like that," said Gouskos, who wound up with 2 goals and an assist. "We played our hearts out and since our new coaches came in a couple of years ago, the program has really changed and we're really proud of how far we've come."

That mentality of playing hard and with a lot of intensity that Emary likes was definitely on display in the third quarter.

Two-meter set Marshall Mathias scored unassisted, followed by Hoffmann feeding driver Mitch Gavars to cut the lead to 7-6. Barrington then tied it at 7-7 when Gouskos fed Hoffmann for a beautiful tally.

The lead was short-lived as Fenwick answered right back with a goal.

The Friars (33-1) outscored the Broncos 8-2 the rest of the way to stamp their ticket to the semifinals. They'll meet Stevenson at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

"We took some risks and made a couple of mistakes, and you can't do that against a great team like Fenwick," said Emary. "That third quarter and leading up to that point, we definitely showed that we wanted to be here."

The final two goals for Barrington were scored by Lesniak and 2-meter defender Kamil Jerominski. Broncos keeper Andrew Fischer played his heart out in goal, coming up with 12 saves in the losing effort.

The Broncos graduate 13 seniors, but will return two juniors in driver Tom Derken and Jerominski, along with an extremely capable and promising sophomore group which gained invaluable experience this year.