Naperville Central dominates in quarterfinals

The best way to describe Naperville Central's IHSA state boys water polo match against Homewood-Flossmoor on Thursday night at Stevenson High School would be total domination.

The Redhawks built a 7-2 lead after one quarter and an 18-4 advantage after three quarters before rolling to a 20-6 quarterfinal victory over the Vikings to advance to the semifinals against Mundelein (27-7) at 10:15 a.m. Saturday.

Naperville Central (29-4) was basically unstoppable on the offensive end as senior Mark Menis and junior Kyle Rickert led the onslaught against Homewood-Flossmoor goalkeeper Jacob Bodnar with 4 goals apiece.

"We're basically using our defense for our offense, and the game is won on mistakes," Menis said. "We tried to keep the pressure on (Shay Banton) and (Russell Maanum), and we have a lot of team chemistry so we try to work the mismatches."

Homewood-Flossmoor (23-9) was on defense for the better part of the contest. Banton was its only bright spot on offense with a game-high 5 goals.

The Redhawks put on a real exhibition in the third quarter when they outscored the Vikings 8-0 behind some strong overall defense and the solid work of goalkeeper Pat Stablein, who had 19 saves overall.

Rickert put on a quick burst of speed and scored for a 15-4 lead with 1:44 remaining in the third quarter before Menis' goal made the score 16-4 just 28 seconds later.

Pat May's goal from the right of Bodnar extended the lead to 17-4 with 44 seconds left in the third quarter before Ryan Stanley's penalty shot 20 seconds later made the score 18-4 after three quarters.

"We counterattacked very well and we're a pretty fast team," said Naperville Central coach Bill Salentine, whose team placed third last year and second in 2008. "Our defense looked good, and Mark Menis is quite possibly one of the best players in the state."

The Redhawks had great balance in their scoring with Kristian Altuve, Ryan Stanley and Tom Shamburek scoring 3 goals apiece.

Naperville Central has already posted two impressive victories over Mundelein during the regular season, but the Redhawks are not going to be overconfident heading into the semifinals.

"Mundelein has a couple of really good swimmers, and they will shoot from anywhere in the pool," Salentine said. "It's hard to beat a team three times in one season, and we're just going to try to refine what we've been doing."