Boys water polo: Trophy finish suits Conant

The first Mid-Suburban League boys water polo team to compete in the Saturday games of the state tournament weekend sure looked like it belonged among the state's elite.

Conant came away from those last-day-of-the-season games without a victory, but played well in earning the first-ever trophy finish for the MSL at Stevenson High School.

The Cougars dropped their morning semifinal to eventual state champion Naperville Central 10-4. That result sent coach Tim Daniel's team into the third-place game against Lyons, and the Cougars dropped that one 12-8.

Naperville Central (34-1) went on to produce a dominant effort to top Fenwick 13-5 in the championship game.

In the semis against Naperville Central, junior Alex Hirjoi led the way for Conant with 2 goals and Spencer Urban and Jake Lydon had 1 goal apiece while senior goalie Harris Dibek made 8 saves.

The Cougars (23-13-1) held the Redhawks scoreless in the first quarter and still trailed just 3-1 at the half. Naperville Central pulled ahead with 4 unanswered scores in the fourth quarter.

In the third-place game against Lyons (30-4), it was close the whole way. Conant trailed 4-3 after the first quarter and 6-4 at the half.

Hirjoi and Urban both finished with 3 goals, and Bryan Cho and Lydon had 1 apiece.

Dibek wrapped up his standout career at Conant with 8 saves.

It was the third appearance at state in Conant's history, and the second under coach Daniel. The future sure looks bright for the program, as Dibek was the only senior starter. This year's junior class included Hirjoi, Cho, Lydon, Justin Lim, Michael Bland and Christian Snopeck. Urban is a sophomore, and freshman Noah Lawson was another key player.