Neuqua goes into break with victory
What happened Tuesday night as the Neuqua Valley boys water polo team played host to District 204 rival Metea Valley was not that complex.
Experience simply won out over inexperience.
The Wildcats (7-4-1) erupted right at the start for 8 goals in the first period and went on to win 16-5 and enjoy some momentum as they go into their spring break. The team returns to action April 6 at St. Charles North.
“We wanted to work on good passing and running our offense,” Neuqua coach Michael Bathan said.
The offense wasn’t merely running, it was sprinting. Or to put it into more of a swimming context, it was doing the equivalent of the 50-yard freestyle.
The match was scoreless for its first 17 seconds when Neuqua’s David Lesniak scored. And for the next 5:53, the Wildcats attacked the Mustangs’ net without letting up.
A.J. Quebbman scored twice during that timespan as did Will Russell, Austin Torrey, Robert Vechiola and Charlie Lockridge to give Neuqua a 7-0 lead.
The Mustangs finally generated some offensive with just 28 seconds left in the period when Cameron Weber broke the shutout on an impressive play as Metea took its time in front of the Wildcats’ net with some strong passing as it waited for a good shot.
Weber and Russell each finished with 4 goals for their respective teams. Lockridge went home with 3 goals.
For Russell, a sophomore, Tuesday’s competition was a chance to see what his team’s offense was fully capable of, something not always possible against some of the area’s more elite teams.
“Metea was tough. But their defense is not like a Fenwick or a Naperville Central. It was good just to get there and run the plays,” he said.
Neuqua led 13-3 after two periods.
Metea plays host to Andrew on Thursday night before heading into spring break, and coach Tom Musch said the battle against Neuqua should help the first-year varsity squad.
“This was real good preparation. The window of opportunity should be much bigger against Andrew. It was smaller tonight,” he said.
“We have a huge amount to learn, but we’re making progress.”