Naperville Central Redhawks turn it on at right time

One play can change the direction of a game, and a steal by Naperville Central's Danny Tucker did exactly that on Saturday.

In the fourth quarter of a sectional final in boys water polo, Tucker helped break open a close game against Neuqua Valley by stealing a ball, taking off in transition, and finding Chris Canene for a breakaway goal.

Canene's goal off of Tucker's steal put his squad up 11-8, spurring on Naperville Central (29-3) to a 7-0 fourth-quarter run and a 16-8 win over host Neuqua Valley (24-9).

"That steal was the turning point," said Naperville Central coach Bill Salentine. "It all started with that. That was the play of the game, as far as I'm concerned."

Tucker won a ball against Neuqua's big gun, John Mikuzis, to set up the goal. "Mikuzis likes to draw that foul, and the guy guarding him has to have his hands up," Tucker said.

"We got our momentum going after that, and once we did that we couldn't be stopped."

Naperville Central beat Neuqua in similar fashion in late April -- three close quarters that preceded a fourth-quarter explosion by the Redhawks.

Naperville Central led 1-0 after a quarter and 4-3 at halftime before Mikuzis scored 2 goals and had the assist on a Mike Rooney goal that tied the game at 6-6 in the third quarter. Naperville Central led 8-6 on goals from Ryan Stanley and Mark Menis, before Neuqua goals from Ryan Jadwin and Mikuzis tied the score again.

Naperville Central's Ben Reasons made it 9-8 heading into the final quarter, where Canene scored all 3 of his goals for the game, and Stanley finished twice while Neuqua was kept out of net.

"We had a few-goal lead, and we got that adrenaline going," Tucker said. "Once we got one goal, we got another one and just kept going."

After posting 20 goals in two previous sectional games, Mikuzis faced a Naperville Central squad intent on double-teaming and slowing him down. The senior's play in the third quarter was exceptional.

"I think he showed today that he is the best offensive player around," said Neuqua coach Martin Bell. "When he's firing on all cylinders, nobody can stop him.

"It looks on the scoresheet like the game was won in the fourth quarter. But the game was won for Central in the pool for the last three months, and in the water over the summer and year-round for the last four or five years."

Goalkeeper Tyler Kelley also posted another top-shelf performance in net for Naperville Central in making 13 saves.