Stevenson's second-half surge sinks Libertyville

The Stevenson boys water polo team squandered repeated chances in the first half Thursday to establish a serious lead over visiting Libertyville.

Instead, the Patriots clung to a 1-goal halftime advantage.

"We kept drawing kickouts and we weren't converting," coach Sean Wimer said. "I thought we would have a better showing."

The second half was a different story.

The Patriots controlled play throughout on their way to a 9-5 victory in the first round of the Lake County Invitational.

Stevenson (3-1) and Libertyville (1-3) will continue tournament play Saturday at Vernon Hills.

"The boys knew they were way better than their (performance) in the first half," Wimer said. "They got after it in the third quarter and that was the difference in the game."

The Patriots offset 11 turnovers by using their depth to wear down the Wildcats.

"We were motivated in the second half," senior Greg Spigelman said. "We had a speed (advantage) and you could definitely tell they were getting tired."

Stevenson opened up the game by controlling play for most of the first quarter. The Patriots went up 3-1 on a goal by Sean Madden.

"We've yet to beat Stevenson in the four years I've been here, and I think part of it was nerves," said Wildcats coach Jeff Arce. "Once we figure out we can swim with them and counterattack, we were right back in the game."

Libertyville's Reed McCann scored on a pair of backhanded shots in the first quarter.

"I was very happy with the way he got in position," Arce said.

The Wildcats tied the score at 3-3 midway through the second quarter on a Zach Leboza goal. Stevenson quickly countered with a goal by Duncan Partridge.

Partridge, Madden, and Ali Khan each scored twice. Spigelman, Jamie Clark and Denis Kuznetsov also tallied. Spigelman and Madden had 2 assists. Partridge recorded 5 steals, and Andrew Lomsky blocked 8 shots.

Libertyville's scoring came courtesy of McCann (2 goals), Leboza (2 goals) and John Blankenhorn.

Arce praised the way goalkeeper Jimmy Palac defended the net.

"He stopped a lot of shots that could have gone in," Arce said. "He saved a 5-meter shot which doesn't happen often against a very good team."

The Wildcats also benefited from the Blankenhorn's return to the lineup. Blankenhorn missed the first week of games because he was training for junior national swimming.

"He adds an element of speed that we haven't had early in the season," Arce said.

Added Blankenhorn: "We could have played better. We felt pretty good at halftime, but we made some stupid mistakes in the second half."

Spigelman and the Patriots know they will have to play better during the next two days.

"It's early in the season, but this is an important tournament," he said. "We want to show other teams in our sectional where we are."