Girls water polo: Spieth, Stevenson continue dominating run with another state championship
Stevenson’ Olivia Spieth went out in style Saturday.
Spieth scored 9 goals to lead the Patriots to the girls water polo state championship 16-11 past York at Barrington.
“This has been a great run,” said Spieth, who has been a four-year starter for the Patriots (35-1).
“Every year has been a different group of people. But it has been fun with them every year.”
It was the fourth consecutive state title for Stevenson and its seventh in the last nine seasons. The Patriots have 8 state championships overall.
“I am so proud of these kids,” said Stevenson coach Jeff Wimer, who has been head of the Patriots program for 33 years.
“They came to play and they have been doing that all year long. Eye-popping 101 goals in their 6 state series matches. They also only allowed 33 goals during that span.
“It actually started with the loss to Punahou from Hawaii,” Wimer said. “It was an awakening for us. We talked about being humble after that game. And you know what? They have responded and met every challenge.”
Stevenson was dominant throughout the tournament. Spieth, who scored 187 goals this season, epitomized that domination.
She scored just 24 seconds into the match. She also tallied a goal on a shot that came from half the pool. What was even more amazing, it was just one second after a York goal that was scored with three seconds left in the first half.
“I love getting my teammates involved in the game.” said Spieth, who is taking a gap year next season to play in Barcelona, Spain.
“I think it is a key part to the game. I try to get everyone involved by getting them assists on their goals. It’s a team sport. We all have to work together.”
Wimer said Spieth is the best he has ever coached.
“All my years of coaching, she is the goat,” Wimer said. “And I have coached some incredibly talented young ladies. She is just a good player and a phenomenal leader. She will be sorely missed.”
Stevenson beat York 10-9 in a match in late April. The Patriots jumped to a 4-1 lead. York got as close as 4-3, but Stevenson went on a 5-1-run to open up a 9-4 lead just before the end of the half.
Along with Spieth, Caroline Bichkoff added three goals, Shanee Sheinman had two goals and Dhanani Seneviratne and Arohi Mathur had one each.
York (24-7) was led by Kate McCarthy, who scored four goals. Sophia Kamenica added three goals, Tessa Schultz had two and Sam Szejner and Emily Jensen each had one.
“We knew we were coming in as underdogs,” York coach Mark Giuliani said. “But we were doing some barking today because we have that dog in us. My girls played real hard against them. We had a good plan. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t.”