Boys water polo: Naperville North reaches title game at Stevenson’s talent-packed invite
It was a great weekend for the Naperville North boys water polo team as the Huskies competed in the very powerful Stevenson Invitational.
No. 2-ranked Naperville North beat York 16-8 and Lyons 13-8 on Friday before rolling past Lincoln-Way East 13-5 in its first game on Saturday.
Due to prom commitments for both No. 1-ranked New Trier (25-2) and the Huskies (25-4) the title game consisted mainly of junior varsity players. And the Trevians swam away with the team title 8-5 over Naperville North.
Senior Mason Hoffmann was the leading scorer for the Huskies in the tournament with strong support from senior teammate Jack Reif. Junior Caden Tsao scored 2 goals against New Trier, but the Huskies were missing six seniors in the championship game.
"We were really happy with the tournament, and plus this is a really competitive tournament with the top four teams in the state here," said Naperville North assistant coach George Horn. "Caden (Tsao) stepped up, but New Trier just had a little more experience out there than us."
Third-ranked York (20-6) toppled the No. 4-ranked host Patriots 12-8 in the third-place game as sophomore Ethan Allen had a game-high 5 goals for the Dukes. York sophomore Teddy Kamenica scored 3 goals as the Dukes led 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
"They (Stevenson) are one of the top teams in the state, they have a lot of experience, and they're well coached so to beat them is a confidence booster," said York coach Brian Drumm, whose team beat Lincoln-Way East 14-3 on Friday. "C.J. Prodoehl had a nice defensive performance. He was kind of our anchor, and he had two shot blocks in the fourth quarter."
The Patriots (20-9) had balanced scoring as Armeet Gill, Wes Linnenburger, Kenny Weisner, and Jared Carollo scored 2 goals each. Sophomore goalie Anthony Cardone was under heavy fire from York throughout the contest.
"We're missing our starting center (Ben Tosyali), but our other guys really stepped up and played well," said Stevenson coach Sean Wimer, whose team lost 15-10 to New Trier on Friday. "They were focusing on Armeet Gill and some of the other guys got opportunities and they made the most of them."
The fifth-place game was a real shootout with Naperville Central (20-7) holding off defending state champion Lyons 15-13 for the win. Tied 7-7 at halftime, the Lions (13-10) could not contain James Behrend, who scored 6 goals for the Redhawks, and A.J. Landorff (5 goals). Junior Ben Kozak led Lyons with 4 goals. New Trier beat the Redhawks 13-6 Saturday.
"This has been one of the better tournaments in the state since I've been coming here, and all eight teams are ranked in the top 10 in the state," said Naperville Central coach Bill Salentine, who is in his final season as head coach. "It was a high-scoring game. We played a very good team-oriented game, and the assists were coming from all over."
After winning the state title, Lyons lost 16 seniors to graduation. "I thought we played well last night in our two games, and we usually don't give up this many goals," said Lyons coach Doug Eichstaedt, whose team beat Lincoln-Way East 9-4 and lost to York 7-4 on Friday. "We just couldn't convert on some opportunities, but our defense wasn't good enough to win."
On Friday, the Redhawks beat No. 9 Palatine 10-7, and lost 15-8 to Stevenson. On Saturday, the Pirates (22-7) fell 11-7 to the host Patriots, 14-2 to No. 1-ranked New Trier, and 13-9 to LWE in the seventh-place game.