Cliburn, Pats start out fast

Thursday couldn't arrive soon enough for the Stevenson girls water polo team.

"This whole week has been slow," senior Rebecca Shopiro said. "We've been waiting for this."

The season opener against Oak Park was scheduled for 5 p.m. But the visitors' late arrival delayed the game until closer to 5:30 p.m.

Stevenson's patience was ultimately rewarded in a big way.

The Patriots dominated play throughout and posted a 16-5 victory.

"I was impressed with our overall awareness," Stevenson coach Jeff Wimer said. "For a first game, we were pretty sharp. We were always looking for the open player across the pool. There's a lot of work to do between now and the end, but we did some very nice things."

The Patriots opened the scoring just 90 seconds in on a goal by Rachel Cliburn. Amy Michelau followed with another Stevenson goal, before Oak Park got on the board.

The Patriots increased their lead to 5-1 at the end of the first period and 9-4 by halftime.

"I was worried we might (look) lost at times, but we really worked together and paid attention to the ball," Shopiro said.

Cliburn scored a match-high 5 goals. The Patriots found the net on 15 of their 30 shots.

"That's already a huge step ahead of last year when we probably shot about 30 percent," Wimer said.

The Patriots received a number of encouraging performances.

"Rachel Cliburn did an excellent job, and Rebecca Shopiro and Amy Michelau had great games on defense and offense. There were some nice surprises with (the performances) of Melanie Sulkin and Kelly Lowry. Janelle (Bartman) did well in goal and the defense in front of her was pretty strong."

Bartman's arm strength allows her to throw the ball almost the entire length of the pool.

"I like to throw the ball so that there's only the goalie in front of them," Bartman said. "That's a lot of fun."