Saxons stop newest rival

Schaumburg at Fremd at 4:30 p.m. The April 17 contest has likely been circled on both team's calendars. If not, now it has.

After Tuesday's Mid-Suburban West boys water polo contest that saw host Schaumburg defeat Fremd 9-5, the Saxons (7-2, 3-0 West) and Vikings can thank the new home-and-away scheduling this season that has division opponents facing off twice. Because both squads are ready to continue this newfound rivalry.

"Normally it's not that intense," said Fremd senior Tony Palcheck. "Normally our games like that are Conant and Palatine -- they're our biggest rivals."

You can add Schaumburg to that list. With 51 seconds left in the third quarter and the Saxons leading 8-3, Palcheck and Schaumburg junior Mike Kehoe battled in front of the west goal nearest the Vikings' bench, with both picking up ejections.

"It was real physical the whole game," said Kehoe, who scored a match-high 4 goals.

Palcheck was whistled for his third ejection on the play.

"Palcheck was looking to get out of there," said Fremd coach Gustavo Correa. "He was being held, so what are you going to do. It's high school and aggression gets the best of our players. As coaches, we've got to make sure we control them."

Something the Vikings (2-5) weren't able to do to the Saxons' offense in the first half. Kehoe scored twice from 2 meters out in a 31-second span in the first quarter and was followed 39 seconds later as Aaron Johnson lifted high out of the water on the right side and drilled a shot into the right corner past Fremd goalie Brett Stocker.

"We talked about coming out strong, coming out ready to play," said Schaumburg coach Tom Gallagher, whose team visits Hinsdale Central today at 5 p.m. "We wanted to play tough defense and get in the passing lanes and shoot with confidence."

Junior Chris Corbett (4 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks) bulled past Vikings' senior Will Menegas 26 seconds into the second quarter as the lead ballooned to 4-0.

"It was great to get on them right away," said Corbett, who added his second goal as Schaumburg scored twice in the final 50 seconds of the first half. "We can get as many goals as we want if they're not guarding us."

Menegas finally broke the Vikings' scoring drought -- 10:19 into the contest. But Schaumburg senior Kevin Kledzik countered as he walked-in the ball from 5 meters and squeezed a shot past three sets of hands on the man-up possession.

After serving in more of a defensive role last season, Palcheck fired a laser past Neal Salemi as Fremd pulled within 5-2 with 1:48 left in the first half.

"Normally I'm used to worrying about the fast break, and now I'm thinking, 'I've got to shoot more than pass,'" he said.

And rest assured, both teams will be thinking about this one until they meet again in 30 days.