Boys water polo: Waubonsie Valley comes back strong against Hinsdale South
Hoping to get back in the win column, or at least build up some momentum heading into the weekend, the Waubonsie Valley boys water polo team could not have asked for a better start.
The Warriors, who had returned from spring break and lost to a strong Naperville North team earlier this week, hosted Hinsdale South on Thursday and used a dominating start to come away with a 14-8 victory.
With the team's top two offensive threats - Jack Zielinski and Quentin Tiscareno - combining for five quick goals, Waubonsie Valley blitzed the Hornets 8-1 in the opening quarter and extended the lead to 13-2 at the half.
"It felt really good. We've been working really hard this season and tonight we earned it," said Zielinski, who struck the back of the net twice in each of the first two quarters. "We came out hard. We came out fast."
The Warriors sophomore said the team looked for its senior leader Tiscareno at the onset, then the whole team seemed to get involved in the scoring.
"We looked for Q's set early and that really helped us out," he said. "Then we worked that drive, and (everyone) tried to get that ball in there. We got some ejections and we capitalized on those man-ups."
Playing in the rugged DuPage Valley Conference, wins have been hard to come by for the 3-11 Warriors. But Tiscareno and his mates looked sharp Thursday and now hope for some carryover at this weekend's Niles West tournament.
"We just started the game out strong," he said. "I felt like we worked as a team this game. Our whole team was energized the entire game. It's going to help our team play stronger at this tournament and we're hopefully going to get some wins."
Hinsdale South picked up its game in the second half, but the Hornets (5-7) could not overcome its sluggish start.
"You know we just came off spring break and I think the guys are still on spring break," Hornets coach Beth Walker said. "We were a little slow. We didn't play a good game today."
Once the Hornets got going, Tommy Matulis often got open on long outlets and Patrick Savage scored three times in the fourth quarter. Matulis led the team with four goals and threatened to get more as he often sprinted by defenders to create opportunities.
"He's our run and gun guy. He's a really ... fast swimmer," Walker said of Matulis. "Because he's just faster than everybody else (he gets open for long outlet passes)."
Warriors coach Mike McWhirter was happy to see his team start fast and then hang on for the victory.
"We played strong. We're a real good swim team, so I like to come out fast and strong," said McWhirter, whose team will play Evanston and Curie in tourney action Friday.