Girls water polo: Naperville North makes state quarterfinal win look easy
The Naperville North girls water polo team played their IHSA quarterfinal game Friday afternoon at Stevenson just how their coached had hoped - with little to no drama.
As was the case in their sectional championship game, freshman Anna Tarantino scored the first goal for the Huskies, and they took an overwhelming 13-1 victory over Lincoln-Way East (24-9).
With the win Naperville North (23-8-1) advances to the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Saturday against defending state champion Stevenson. The Huskies are guaranteed their first top-four trophy since 2004.
Offense was the name of the game for the Huskies from start to finish. Junior Taylor Wessel scored the first of her 5 goals for a 2-0 lead just 2:51 into the contest. Then she out-hustled the Griffins goalkeeper to the ball before scoring her second goal for a 3-0 advantage with 2:50 left in the first quarter.
The combination of Wessel and senior teammate Isabelle Rocco was pretty unstoppable the whole game as Rocco, who scored four times, scored from point-blank range for a 4-0 lead. Then senior Kelsey Ryan scored from in close assisted by Wessel for a commanding 5-0 lead after one quarter.
"We want to start off strong every game, and Anna (Tarantino) scored the first goal like she did at sectionals and that kind of set the tone for the game," said Wessel, who also credited the outstanding goalkeeping and defense. "(Goalie) Grace (Raquel) is amazing. We have a lot of confidence in each other, which helps a lot, we just feed off each other, and we have to prove ourselves every game."
The offensive onslaught slowed down considerably in the second quarter as Rocco scored on an assist from senior Alli Horn after numerous back and forth passing between the two players for a 6-0 halftime lead.
Wessel lofted a shot into the left corner of the net for a 7-0 lead before she got her own rebound off a saved shot and scored again for an 8-0 advantage with 4:29 left in the third quarter.
Then Rocco scored on assist by Wessel, Wessel scored from the right wing, and Horn scored on an assist by Rocco and the Huskies were well on their way to victory with an 11-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"Our approach was to come out hard, outswim them and have the girls in good position the whole time," said Naperville North coach Andy McWhirter. "Grace is a freshman goalie, she does an outstanding job and she doesn't shy away from any player who is coming at her."
Mikayla Saad's goal made the score 12-0 before Rocco scored on a breakaway goal for a 13-0 lead with 6:14 to go.
Raquel and company had hoped for a shutout, but Emily Costella's goal with 3:04 to play broke up the shutout. Raquel made 10 saves.
"It makes it very difficult when you have two outstanding shooters (like Wessel and Rocco)," added McWhirter, in praising his offensive standouts. "And that is the key to us being so deep this year."