Stevenson edges Naperville Central in OT
Jeff Wimer, thrilled and exhausted, made a polite request Thursday night.
“Would it be OK if I sit down right now?” Stevenson’s girls water polo coach said, cracking a weary smile.
“I’m beat.”
His Patriots?
Victorious.
Stevenson, in its home water for a state quarterfinal, edged Naperville Central 8-7 in double overtime. Pats junior Tori St. John’s goal tied it at 7-7, with 30 seconds left in regulation, and senior teammate Karen Lowry netted her third goal of the game to end the Redhawks’ superb season at 32-2.
“Sometimes something doesn’t end the way Disney wants it to end,” said Naperville Central coach Jeff Plackett, who guided NC clubs to third-, second- and fourth-place trophies the past three seasons.
“Stevenson,” he added, “was so well-prepared tonight. It is so well-coached. There is no shame in losing to a team coached by Jeff Wimer.”
Stevenson (26-8) will face St. Ignatius (25-4) in a state semifinal at 10:15 a.m. Saturday.
Stevenson and Naperville Central each played without a top-notch player in the extra sessions on Thursday night: Stevenson senior Cheyenne Montijo (2 goals) and Central junior Emily Sejna (3 goals).
Both had fouled out in the fourth quarter, after committing three kick-out violations.
“I was about to break down when I came out,” admitted Montijo. “But Coach Wimer got me up, told me that I needed to be a leader for our team. My job was to pump up my teammates during timeouts, direct them, point things out … do anything I could to help.”
One of the perks of Wimer’s job Thursday night: watching Montijo, dry and animated, turn into an instant assistant coach on deck.
“I made Cheyenne guard (goal-scoring machine) Abbey Kerth,” said Wimer. “That’s tough vs. tough. When Cheyenne got out of the water, I told her, ‘Come with me, help me get these girls motivated.’ ”
Central’s Kerth, a stellar junior, amassed 128 goals and 32 assists in 33 games. On Thursday night, Montijo limited her to 2 goals – none after the half.
Stevenson junior goalkeeper Lisa Michalowski also got thwart-happy in the state quarterfinal, stopping 22 Redhawks shots. She snared 2 high saves in the second three-minute OT to preserve the Patriots’ 1-goal advantage.
“(Michalowski) got my first-team vote for all-state, based on the way she played tonight,” said Plackett, whose squad beat Stevenson 7-5, in the same pool, on May 7. “My goalie (junior Julia Campbell) played well, too. Stevenson’s goalie? She was absolutely amazing, on everything.”
Stevenson enjoyed the biggest lead of the night, at 4:01 of the second quarter. A Montijo power-play goal put the Pats up 5-2. Kerth struck for her second goal at 1:47, and Sejna tossed in a goal — with 23 seconds left in the half — to cut the advantage to 5-4.
It was tied 6-6 after three quarters.
NC senior Lizzy Giuliani (2 goals) broke the stalemate with a goal midway through the fourth quarter. Holding the ball well above her head with her right hand, she looked, looked and then looked some more while treading. She was, in a way, a semi-immersed Statue of Liberty – without a torch.
Giuliani then fired a shot past Michalowski for a 7-6 Redhawks lead.
St. John’s clutch goal nearly three minutes later, from 5 meters out, forced OT.
“I starting crying after it went in; I was so happy,” St. John recalled.
“I started smiling and screaming,” Michalowski said. “I was full of joy.”
Lowry, who had a challenging defensive assignment (stop Sejna), extended Stevenson’s season with her OT tally, shortly after a Sam Petti steal. Senior Shelby Kohalmy, who scored the Pats’ third goal Thursday night, came up big at the other end of the pool in the second OT.
Her steal, at 0:24, stymied an NC threat a couple of meters in front of Michalowski.
Erin McCook also scored goal for Stevenson.
“You know what the hardest part of this is?” Plackett said. “Knowing that my team isn’t going to practice for another game tomorrow. It’s been such a fun group, from the first day. A lot of teams typically go through a bump in the road or have to deal with a clash of personalities. Not this group. What a tremendous group.
“My daughter (Claire) is going to celebrate her first birthday on Tuesday,” he added. “I want Claire to grow up to be just like the girls on this team.”