BG to represent East in MSL title game

Buffalo Grove and Wheeling both won their Mid-Suburban East boys water polo games Tuesday, which means they share the divisional title with 9-1 records.

BG and Wheeling split their two head-to-head meetings, and both games were decided by 1 goal.

So the third tiebreaker to decide who will represent the East in the Mid-Suburban League championship game against Fremd came into play. That's goals allowed in divisional play, and BG had a clear edge there.

Especially after Tuesday's outcome. The host Bison took command against Elk Grove in the second half, outscoring the Grens 7-0 on the way to a 13-2 victory.

Seniors Ian Rodriguez (8 goals) and Jon Mass (2) led the way for coach Scott Kopecky's Bison (15-5, 9-1), who will play in the MSL title game for the second time in the last three years.

It's still been a terrific year for defending East champion Wheeling (21-6, 9-1). Coach John “Rudy” Means has been pleased with the continued development of seniors Austin Ihde, Ben Reiff, Dan Shriber, Cory Perlman and Ethan Rosengarden.

One concern entering the season was how to replace standout goalkeeper Shane McDade, who graduated. But sophomore Noah Ihde has met that challenge and become a real stopper for the Wildcats.

“Overall it has been a great season, with a bunch of players really playing at a high level,” Means said. “The issue this season has been consistency. We played an amazing game against Schaumburg (and won 10-9) early in the season, but then the very next game we played so poorly against Stevenson (and lost 15-0). In all of our losses we outshot our opponent by at least 12 shots, and while all of them were not good shots, it still paints a picture that shows we are a talented team but not able to always score consistently.”

Means and the Wildcats will get another shot at Buffalo Grove in sectional play. BG earned a No. 4 seed and Wheeling the No. 5 in the Palatine sectional; the teams will meet at 5:45 p.m. on May 9.

Hersey 12, Rolling Meadows 5: Tom Cotey scored 3 goals to help the Huskies (9-13, 5-5) finish East play with a victory over the visiting Mustangs to wrap up a third-place finish in the division. Patrick Waterloo had 3 goals and Kevin Fitzsimons 2 for the Mustangs (5-14, 1-9).

Conant 14, Barrington 5: David Wollschlager had 4 goals, Brandon Grzgorek had 3 and the visiting Cougars (14-6, 7-3) completed a runner-up finish in the MSL West as goalie Ryan Haman made 3 saves.

Sam Miseyka scored twice and Sean MacCarthy made 14 saves for Barrington (4-18, 0-10).