Boys water polo: St. Charles East, North optimistic

Despite the graduation of school career goal scorer Andrew Roberge (169 goals from 2015-2016), offense may not be an area of major concern for St. Charles East's boys water polo team if the first week of play is any indication.

First-year coach Jonathon Gruszeczki enjoyed a memorable debut during the Saints' season-opening 19-8 victory over Rolling Meadows Tuesday night at the Norris Aquatic Center.

"We're putting some pieces together offensively," said Gruszeczki, who played high school water polo at Fenwick (1996-2000) before going on to play at Iona College (N.Y.). "It's a veteran team - perhaps a step or two ahead of younger teams.

"We have a lot of returning seniors," Gruszeczki said of a list that includes Kyle Chapko, Ryan Differding, Tanner Schisler and Charles Young III. "You can only go as far as your seniors are willing take you but they've shown that they're willing to do what it takes.

"Our seniors have really taken charge of their preseason from the start. They're showing leadership and willingness to adapt to a new and more demanding style of play."

That demanding style is part of Gruszeczki's plan.

"We are trying to facilitate an offense and defense where the boys are making their own decisions in real time," said the coach. "I anticipate it taking an adjustment period but so far so good. You have to learn basic steps and then elaborate on those."

Coming off a successful 18-8 season last year, the Saints enjoyed a rousing start against Rolling Meadows, scoring 8 goals in the opening period.

"We went out trying to establish ourselves," said Gruszeczki.

Chapko and Differding paced the Saints with 6 and 5 goals, respectively.

"The scoring was pretty spread out which was good to see," added the coach, whose roster includes senior Anthony Benjamin, junior Andrew Bryant, sophomore Athanasios Laskaris, and freshmen Michael O'Donnell and Sawyer Schulte.

"We're really excited to see how quickly our younger players adapt," said Gruszeczki. "A lot of the guys are new to the game but are already showing promise."

At St. Charles North, veteran coach Chris Cloy hopes his team can improve upon last year's 12-16 mark.

Cloy is counting on big things from his varsity returning trio of seniors Sam Lilly (hole defender), Jack Williams (utility) and junior Sam Kalenowski (utility).

"We are looking for all three guys to have great seasons," said Cloy. "We're looking to build on great offseason work during the summer and fall as well as training during the high school swim season."

The list of newcomers includes juniors Gavin Allamian (utility), Robbie Holzer (utility), sophomores Joe Muehlschlegel (goalie), Charlie Williams (utility) and freshman Siba Filipovic (utility).

The North Stars also expect contributions from seniors Grant Aguirre, Caymus Cairns, Stephen Yanez and juniors Jakob Moberly and Owen Tykal.

"We have a lot of new faces to the varsity team but the boys are eager for the opportunity to show what they can do as a team," said Cloy. "We're focusing on the fundamentals and coming together as a team. If we're going to be successful it is because we're operating as a team and not a collection of individuals."

The North Stars began their season with a 14-9 loss to Lincoln-Way Central Thursday.

"We're looking forward to a competitive season as we play one of the most competitive schedules we've seen in recent years," said Cloy.