Naperville Central cranks up offense in 2nd half

Naperville Central boys water polo coach Bill Salentine knew that his offense would come around eventually in Tuesday's match against Waubonsie Valley.

With the score tied at 2 at the half, the Redhawks came out smoking in the second half for a 10-3 win over Waubonsie. Naperville Central put the game away with 6 goals in the fourth quarter.

"Eventually, it was going to happen," Salentine said. "It almost always does. The first half, Waubonsie's defense was pretty good and our offense wasn't firing on all eight cylinders. We turned it on at the end."

Waubonsie (1-5) tied the score with 2:26 left in the second quarter when Anthony Conti lofted a shot just over the hand of Naperville Central goalkeeper Tyler Kelley, who did make 16 saves in the win. That 2-2 score stood at the half.

"We felt real good (after the first half)," Waubonsie Valley coach Chad Ganden said. "A whole lot better than the first time we played them (a 5-2 Naperville Central win). We were playing stronger defense, little things, doing the right things, making good passes and looking to make stops. Positively, our defense has been real good this year. Offense, we're still working on trying to develop an offense."

That showed in the second half as the Redhawks (9-2) started to take over. Junior Ben Reasons scored 2 of his 4 goals in the third period and the Redhawks blanked the Warriors to open a 4-2 lead.

Two more Reasons goals helped Naperville Central's fourth-quarter barrage that busted the game open.

"He is a very good perimeter shooter," Salentine said of Reasons. "When he's on, he's really good."

Waubonsie's frustration mounted at the start of the fourth when two quality shots were denied by Kelley. The two teams then exchanged goals before Naperville Central scored the final five goals of the game, all coming in the last 4:33.

"It's always been a good defensive game," Ganden said. "We kind of let the game go here at the end. My kids' frustration got to them and they capitalized on that."

In addition to Reasons' 4 goals, Mark Menis added 2 goals and 4 assists for the Redhawks. Bobby Rickert, Josh Jelesky and Ryan Stanley scored the other goals. Conti, Bryan Martina and Tyler Hunt each scored goals for Waubonsie. Max Martin stopped 8 shots in net.

Salentine credited his team's patience offensively for the late barrage, though it took a while for his team to get moving on the offensive end.

"I think patience is a key in a lot of these games," Salentine said. "Sometimes you have to wait and maybe they'll start making mistakes. You just can't rush into things. When you start to rush, you start making mistakes. We were patient and waiting for our opportunities."

As for Waubonsie, despite a 1-5 start to the season, the Warriors' confidence is still high.

"They're positive," Ganden said. "They definitely still want to win their sectional. I think anything else would be a disappointment to them."