Girls water polo: Naperville North win sets up another sectional final vs. Naperville Central

There are high school traditions in May such as prom, getting ready for final exams and the Naperville Central and Naperville North girls water polo teams meeting in a sectional final.

Thanks to the Huskies' 8-5 win over Metea Valley on Friday in a Neuqua Valley sectional semifinal, Naperville North and Naperville Central meet at 10 a.m. Saturday in the sectional final. It's the sixth time in the last seven years the two teams have met with a trip to state on the line.

It will be the same two schools, Naperville Central vs. Naperville North, in the boys sectional final at 11:30 a.m.

The Redhawks girls, the top-ranked team in the state, beat St. Charles North 15-3 in Friday's first semifinal thanks to 6 goals from Emily Westlove, 5 from Emily Rogers and 2 from Charlotte Albright.

This sectional final matchup may happen on a regular basis, but the thrill of being one win from state and facing one's cross-town rival that's full of club teammates and friends doesn't seem to be getting old with the players.

"This means the world to us. If we can win, it will show we can be this good," said Naperville North's Isabelle Rocco, who with Ali Horn, led the Huskies' offense with 3 goals each.

But before second-seeded Naperville North (21-9) could start thinking about Naperville Central, it had to deal with third-seeded Metea Valley (26-5). The Mustangs weren't just happy to be there but wanted a sectional final berth as well. They stood up to the Huskies most of the match.

Caroline Kellogg, who led the Mustangs with 2 goals, scored 38 seconds into the third quarter to pull Metea to within 4-3. About two minutes later a Naperville North shot hit the goal post. However, it was kept in by the Huskies and Rocco got it to Horn, who deposited it to make it 5-3.

One minute later, Alex Cerra scored to put the Mustangs back to within 1 before Rocco closed the quarter's scoring and to give her team a 6-4 lead.

Olivia Eiken made it 7-4 with 6:02 remaining in the game. With just less than four minutes left Caroline Kellogg's shot appeared to have hit the back of the net. One official ruled no goal, but after a discussion with his partner, it was ruled a goal and Metea was back to within 2.

A failed clearing attempt by the Mustangs landed right in front of Horn, and she took it three-fourths of the length of the pool for her third and final score of the evening.

Gabby Duval gave Metea the lead just 28 seconds into the game and the teams were tied 2 at the end of the first quarter.

"Communication was the key for us. If we were trapped by the defense, we needed to look at the open players and keep communicating," said Naperville North's Taylor Wessel.

And that won't change Saturday.

"We need to play our game and we need to keep talking," Horn said.

As for Metea, life was good in the present and with a limited number of seniors on this season's roster, the future looks bright in 2018.

"I told the girls that win or lose, let's use this as motivation," said Metea coach Wyatt Jansen. "They have to get the work in the off-season and get involved with as much water polo as possible."

Jansen praised the efforts of seniors Cerra and Duval.

"They will be tough to replace, but we have a lot of hungry players that will step up," he said.