Crittenden's 6 sink Neuqua

Neuqua Valley might have stopped Tyler Crittenden if only it could have found her.

The Waubonsie Valley driver drove home 6 goals from a variety of angles and distances, 4 to turn the game around in the third quarter, leading the Warriors to a 10-8 girls water polo victory over visiting archrival Neuqua Valley on Thursday.

Crittenden's 4 goals in the third quarter helped bring the Warriors (4-1) from down 5-3 to up 8-7 at the end of the period.

"I'm usually not as accurate or as confident in my shooting," said Crittenden, who missed just 1 shot in what was only her third game of the season due to club swimming commitments. "But tonight I was excited to play and excited to play Neuqua. In other years they usually beat us."

The final goal of the third quarter was, as she called it, a "no-lookie" facing practically away from the goal and from about 10 meters out.

"Tyler's really good from the corner and on long-distance shots," said Waubonsie Valley coach Diana Mehl. "Her shots are a little unorthodox, but you sometimes need that in a game. Some of her shots really surprise the goalie."

Crittenden's other goals came from both corners of the pool and on a pair of drives down the middle.

"She's our sprinter, our driver," Mehl said about Crittenden. "Having her there for breakaways really helps our offense."

Goals by Jean Slana and Crittenden put the Warriors ahead 2-0 in the first five minutes of the game.

Chelsea Reczek scored to bring Neuqua within a goal at the end of the period.

The second quarter was encouraging for the Wildcats (2-3), who lost to Waubonsie Valley 9-1 at the Quad Tournament at Naperville Central last weekend.

Neuqua scored three times within 90 seconds midway through the second quarter, the first by Reczek and the other 2 by Kathleen Patterson.

Bailey Gucinski hit on a penalty shot to account for the Warriors' only score of the quarter.

"Our girls started to click in the second quarter," said Neuqua Valley coach Lenny DiPasquale. "Once we got on a roll, we kept going and made things happen. We also played tough defense."

The third-quarter scoring was mainly by Crittenden, with Alli Szott contributing the goal that made it 7-5.

"When we get down we get mad and start kicking up our game a little bit," Crittenden said. "And then we play stronger defense and go for it on offense."

Patterson tallied the only Wildcats goal of the period.

Crittenden and Szott each rattled the net in the final period to make it 10-7 before Neuqua's Reszek closed the scoring with her third tally of the night at the buzzer.

Earlier in the period, Patterson connected on her fourth goal of the contest and Nancy Leech also scored for the Wildcats.

"I'm proud of how our girls played, considering the 8-goal loss to Waubonsie over the weekend," DiPasquale said. "Waubonsie is a tough team, but we stepped up our defense and played with them in this game."