Saints knock out N. Stars

Tuesday night's match between St. Charles' two boys water polo teams carried some added significance.

The two schools met in an opening round sectional match at St. Charles North, and it was the visiting Saints who took the lead midway through the first period, then held on and survived a determined last minute surge to win 15-12.

"Our guys were pretty amped up before the game, and they came out and set the tone," St. Charles East coach Kyle Lauterer said.

Shaun Seuschek gave the Saints their first lead, 2-1, then scored again later in the opening period to extend the cushion to 4-2.

"It was really important to get the lead at the beginning," Seuschek said.

The Saints led 5-3 after one period, having frustrated St. Charles North's senior leader, Alex Peterson. But Peterson came back with a vengeance, scoring three goals in just over four minutes to keep the North Stars within striking distance, 10-7, at the break.

"(Peterson) showed the maturity of a senior tonight," St. Charles North coach Chris Cloy said. "He gave everything he had to try and will his team to victory."

But if the North Stars seemed poised to make a move at the start of the second half, the Saints would have none of it.

Shane Seuschek matched his brother by scoring his second goal of the game, a little over a minute into the third period, Adam Carnell and Greg Ballweg followed with goals of their own as the Saints opened a 13-7 lead.

"We kept up the same level of intensity and didn't let up," Lauterer said.

At the end of three periods St. Charles East's lead was 14-9. When Shaun Seuschek opened the final period with his third goal of the game, it seemed like the Saints were in the clear.

But Lauterer knew better.

"We got to know the North Stars pretty well this year, and we knew they would not give up and that Alex Peterson would get them back in the game," Lauterer said.

Peterson took over the rest of the game, scoring three times to pull the North Stars to within 15-12 with 2:51 to go. But unfortunately for the senior and his teammates, they just ran out of time.

"I couldn't be more proud of the way our kids battled to the end," Cloy said. "They showed a lot of resiliency and a lot of heart."

Peterson led all scorers with 6 goals. Greg Trusso and Justin Jacobson each scored 2 goals for the North Stars (4-23), while goalkeeper Nick Lutsch slammed the door for the final 6 minutes of the game to give his team a shot at coming back.

Mike Polz, Ballweg, and Carnell joined Shaun Seuschek with 3 goals a piece as 6 different Saints broke into the scoring column. The Saints (6-13) now move on to play top seeded Naperville