St. Charles East tops St. Charles North in 2 OTs
What a difference a year makes.
In 2014, St. Charles East suffered a humbling 15-2 boys water polo setback at crosstown rival St. Charles North as part of a 5-14 rebuilding season under a new coach, Tim O'Grady.
But, after a productive off-season, the Saints look like a radically different team.
In its latest big step forward, East already surpassed its 2014 win total after just nine games by edging St. Charles North, the state's 22nd-ranked team, 7-6 in two overtimes on Thursday at the Norris Recreation Center.
After a scoreless first overtime, Jack Sweeney delivered the game-winning goal with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left in the second overtime off a feed from fellow junior Andrew Roberge. St. Charles East then survived back-to-back one-man advantage opportunities for North to hold on for its most important victory of the young season.
"Last year was my first year with the guys. They had to transition to my new coaching style, and it took some time to do that," O'Grady said. "This year it's been about every single player on the field having 100-percent confidence in himself and his teammates. Andrew is our best shot, but everybody has a role on this team and has confidence that he can contribute. That makes it tough for opponents when everyone in the lineup is a threat to score and make plays."
The Saints (6-3) started quickly, as Roberge buried a shot from the 5-meter line for a 1-0 first-quarter lead. Chris Stanek pushed North (7-4) in front 2-1 with a pair of goals in the first two minutes of the second period, but senior Dustin Differding got credit for deflecting Sean Sweeney's shot into the goal to even the game at 2-2 with: 58 left in the period.
Differding and Roberge pushed East back in front 4-2 with two quick goals in the first 2:00 of the third quarter, and, after Stanek found the net to cut the margin to 4-3, Roberge used a ball and eye fake to shift North's defense out of position before firing his third goal of the match into the back of the net for a 5-3 lead with: 12 remaining in the quarter.
Roberge stretched East's lead to 6-3 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, but the North Stars promptly reeled off three straight goals from John Pretet, Jon Gallee and Pretet again with 2:21 left in regulation to tie East 6-6. Both teams had opportunities to win the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime, but goalies Garrett Allamian of North and Ethan Sellers of East made key saves to thwart rallies until Sweeney's winning goal. North had a man advantage due to East penalties on back-to-back possessions near the end of the second extra frame but turned the ball over in both instances.
"We had opportunities all day," North coach Chris Cloy said. "The fourth quarter we hit a couple of shots and had opportunities for more but just couldn't capitalize. Our defense was great all day. Seven goals is a solid day for us defensively. Our defense gave us a chance to win."
Four of East's seven varsity starters sharpened their skills and confidence playing on last year's JV squad, which went 11-3 in 2014. "We had a lot of talent on the JV last year and we worked well together," Roberge said. "This year we have good team chemistry. We're working well as a team. (Today) was one of the best games of our season. Defensively we crashed the hole really well, sloughing off on them and getting after the ball."
"They have talent, skill, they're in great shape and they're realizing they can be a great team," O'Grady said. "They can keep getting better."