Girls water polo: York builds on home-pool advantage vs. St. Charles North
There were two rehearsals close to each other Thursday at York High School in Elmhurst. One was a theater production and the other down the hall was in the pool.
The York girls water polo team defeated St. Charles North 11-7. Dukes coach Mark Giuliani said home games, especially this late in the season, are crucial with York having the advantage of hosting its own sectional.
"Those games will be close and the girls will have to be able to put the ball in the back of the net," he said.
The York coach was pleased with the overall performance of the Dukes whose record improved to 14-7. York scored seven goals in the final two quarters, including four in the final period to keep its grip on the contest.
"I'm happy with the way we countered and we were doing a lot of effective transitions from offense and defense and from defense to offense," Giuliani said.
Moleigh Waldherr led York with 4 goals.
"There is always room for improvement. The team wants to play tight offense and defense and eliminate errors," she said.
Kat Siavelis, Marissa Logan and Alex Danciutiu each scored twice for York. Sydney Hutchinson tallied one goal.
The Dukes led 1-0 after the opening quarter on a score by Siavelis. York was stopped twice by saves from North Stars goalie Lexi Coakley, who finished with 6 saves.
"She's a great goalkeeper and we talked about that prior to the game and stressed that we would need to execute our shots," Giuliani said.
Waldherr made it 2-1 just 36 seconds into the second quarter with St. Charles North's Jules Engesser hitting net on a half-pool shot to tie the game at 2. Engesser finished with 3 goals and the shot on her first score was something seen from both teams as offenses were moved away from the net at times.
"Our defense was outstanding, forcing (St. Charles North) out from the net," Waldherr said. "We would rather make shots from a set position (in front of the net). It's ideal, but we had to adapt."
Goals by Logan and Waldherr gave the Dukes a 4-2 halftime lead.
The North Stars' Maddy Feddor pulled her team to within 4-3 just 32 seconds into the third quarter. York led 7-5 after it.
Anna DeVries, who scored twice, got her second score to start the final quarter. York proceeded to score three unanswered goals, two by Danciutiu and one by Siavelis to put itself in the driver's seat at 10-6.
Winning goalie Emma Radcliff finished with 9 saves.
St. Charles North fell to 13-7-1 with the loss. Coach George Mitchell said his team adjusted to what York was doing, just not early enough.
"We did not execute our technical skills. We have to be able after a timeout to make passes with the pressure on us. We didn't adjust at the beginning but about the middle of the game," he said.
Isabelle Sullivan also scored for the North Stars.