Fourth try is charmed for Palatine
Persistence paid for Palatine's boys water polo team Thursday night at Barrington in sectional quarterfinal play.
The sixth-seeded Pirates had fallen three times to the third-seeded Broncos in the regularseason, and two of those decisions were by 10 goals or more
But Palatine made good on the fourth try.
A harassing defense led by senior Chris Mals (14 steals), perimeter sniping from Brad Ferris (5 goals) and stellar goalkeeping from all-conference pick Dan Sommerfeld (13 saves) helped the Pirates win 14-11 and earn a spot in today's 8:15 p.m. semifinal against No. 2 seed McHenry, a 19-10 winner over Conant.
"What happened was we were really able to put everything together for four quarters," said Palatine coach Joe Grzybek.
Behind early goals from senior co-captains Mike Byron and David Poetz, Barrington took the lead and didn't trail until 52 seconds were left in the third quarter, when Kamil Mulawa long shot gave Palatine a 10-9 lead.
By that point, Palatine's defense seemed to find the key to defending against Barrington's quick set plays and Byron's booming shot. After a Barrington timeout with 5:04 to play, Ferris converted a breakaway goal to put the Pirates up 11-9. Late goals from Dylan Weissman and Sebastian Dorszewski helped Palatine (13-18) maintain its lead and finish the upset.
"When you get one to go in early," said Ferris, "it's easy to be confident later on."
"We've got tip our hat to Palatine," said Barrington coach Adam Steffen. "Unfortunately, our guys didn't respond well to their press defense. It was just an off day for us."
Byron concluded a standout career with 5 goals, and Poetz and Michah Koenig both had 2.
"We really worked on getting prepared for Barrington," said Mals. "They're a great team and they run a really tricky offense, so we knew had to be ready."
For the Broncos (20-6), a promising season ended more quickly than they'd have liked, but Steffen had nothing but positive sentiments for his team, and especially his co-captains.
"Mike Byron and David Poetz, they are just about the finest young men you could hope to have," said Steffen.
In the earlier games at Barrington, MSL champ Schaumburg topped Hoffman Estates 28-7, and MSL East champ Rolling Meadows, the No. 5 seed, edged No. 4 Fremd 10-9 behind 5 goals from Pat LeBuhn. The Saxons (28-2) and Mustangs (20-4) meet in a semifinal that is a rematch of last week's MSL championship game at 7 p.m. Friday.
Glenbrook North sectional: Area teams bowed out of the state tournament as Loyola defeated Hersey 13-4, Evanston defeated St. Viator 19-10 and Glenbrook South topped Prospect 15-1.
Vernon Hills sectional: No. 3 seed Buffalo Grove was surprised by Lake Forest 14-12 and Wheeling fell to Mundelein 20-7.