Naperville C. cruises to semi

The Naperville Central boys water polo team took care of business with a 16-4 victory over Stevenson on Friday in an IHSA state quarterfinal.

To no one's surprise, Fenwick did the same, routing St. Ignatius 17-2.

As a result, the two best teams in Illinois by record will meet at 12:45 p.m. today at Stevenson High School. Although it will be a state semifinal, it will certainly have a championship feel.

Fenwick (31-0) is the five-time defending state champion. Fenwick has handed Naperville Central (30-3) all three of its losses.

"There will be more pressure on them," Naperville Central senior Ben Reasons said. "We'll try to keep the game close and play good defensively."

When Naperville Central played Stevenson in the regular season, the Redhawks scored a 16-3 victory. Stevenson held the Redhawks scoreless Friday for the opening four minutes but was unable to capitalize offensively during this stretch.

"We had some great looks at the cage on the first couple of possessions," Patriots coach Sean Wimer said. "We weren't rewarded, and I think that affected us."

Naperville Central came alive by scoring 4 goals during the final 2:46 of the quarter. Stevenson opened the second quarter with goals from junior Alex Rembialkowski and senior Ali Khan. Khan's goal came on a penalty shot.

"They easily have the best goalie (Tyler Kelley) in the state," Khan said. "I normally shoot to the left, but I saw him (anticipate that) and I had enough time to skip it to the right."

From there Reasons took over. He scored the next 4 goals to give the Redhawks an 8-2 halftime advantage.

"I realized I could attack their goalie (Adam Weisberger) at certain angles," Reasons said.

Added Naperville Central coach Bill Salentine: "It was great to see him get involved early on. He's the kind of guy that can turn a game around."

Senior Mark Menis scored 4 of his game-high 6 goals in the third quarter. Senior Ryan Stanley tallied three times.

For Stevenson, Khan and Rembialkowski each scored twice.

"We wanted to counteract Naperville Central's speed," Wimer said. "We did a great job of that in the first quarter, but they forced us into mistakes and their experience took over."

Naperville Central's first two losses to Fenwick were by scores of 14-4 and 17-6. When the two teams played May 2, the score was 2-2 at halftime before Fenwick pulled away for an 8-3 victory.

"We've gotten better throughout the season," Salentine said. "If we play four solid quarters of water polo it will be a close game. Hopefully, it will be tough for (Fenwick) to beat us four times."