Prospect tops depleted Elk Grove
Prospect probably isn't the team you want to be facing when your leading scorer from last season (Igor Karlicic) and top defender (Keith Pottker) are out with illnesses.
But that's exactly what Elk Grove (0-5, 0-4) was up against Wednesday night when it hosted the Knights.
And before two minutes elapsed, Prospect (6-2, 3-0) was up 4-0 and well on its way to an 18-3 MSL East boys water polo victory.
"It's hurting us," senior Joe Duschinsky said of the Grens' depleted roster. "Our bench isn't very deep so our subs aren't always as fresh as we would like them to be."
After Duschinsky scored the Grens' only goal of the first half -- past Brian Forrest (9 saves) with 4:31 left in the first quarter -- the Knights scored 12 unanswered goals to take a 16-1 halftime lead.
Prospect senior Sean Hansen scored a match-high 6 goals (all in the first half), followed by Tim O'Grady (4), and Charlie Mau and Joe Stelnicki, who each notched a hat trick.
"You can't duplicate game-time at practice, so any game is important," said Prospect coach Dan Gentry, whose team has won six in a row. "One of our goals is to work on our passing, which we definitely did."
Elk Grove junior Bart Pienkowski scored back-to-back goals in the third quarter.
"We're just playing our hardest," Pienkowski said. "We're playing all out -- like we have everyone."
Softball
Devinne Wapotish homered and Kim Cygan threw a 5-hitter as Barrington (2-0) beat Deerfield 8-0 in the semifinals of the Fillies' Spring Fling tournament.
Baseball
Tim Conroy's two-out single with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning capped a 3-run rally that gave Barrington a 7-6 win over St. Charles East in its opener.
Chris Holke's 2-run double tied the game after St. Charles East went ahead with 2 runs in the top of the seventh. Gus Handler had 2 doubles and drove in 2 of the Broncos' 4 two-out runs in the fifth.
Boys volleyball
Visiting Fremd led 11-3 in the first game but Vernon Hills rallied for a 25-23, 25-17 nonconference victory.
"I think we played very loose at the start and we limited our errors," Fremd coach Curt Pinley said. "That's a formula (for success). The problem was we didn't continue to do that. We made some unforced errors and that cost us. Vernon Hills is an excellent team and they kept the pressure on."
Fremd's Calhan Nolan had 7 kills and 3 aces. Senior Daniel Brophy added 6 kills. Pinley liked the way sophomore middle blocker Steven Maring competed in his first varsity start.
"He limited his errors at the net and did a fantastic job," Pinley said.
-- Bob Gosman
Girls soccer
Crystal Lake South scored the only goal it needed 18 minutes into a 2-0 win at Barrington.
Katie Goldrath had 4 saves and Kelly Pedersen registered 3 saves for the Fillies (1-1.)
"We had our chances," said Fillies coach Ryan Stengren. "We are a very young team and we are going through some growing pains."
-- Dave Hess