Saxons move ahead at Palatine's expense

So far, no one has been able to slow Schaumburg's progress as the Saxons creep toward a Mid-Suburban West boys water polo title.

Schaumburg continued its march against one of the division's better programs, Palatine, by outscoring the Pirates 4-0 in the first period and staying comfortably ahead the rest of the way in a 17-9 victory.

Chris Corbett and Mike Kehoe led the way for the Saxons (23-2, 8-0 MSL West) with 4 goals apiece, and Pat Kraulis and Anthony Darovec both had 3. Neal Salemi came up with 8 saves.

Palatine's effort was paced by Sebastian Dorszewski with 4 goals and Dylan Weissman with 3.

"We're just focused on playing good water polo - team water polo," said Schaumburg coach Tom Gallagher. "We're hoping we can help bring up the level of play in the entire area."

Count Palatine (6-10, 2-5) among the programs who have learned some lessons the hard way against Schaumburg. Coach Joe Grzybek's team is on the upswing after a rough 4-win season last spring.

"We like to think we're a little better than our record, because we've really tried to schedule top teams in our nonconference games," said Grzybek. "We've been a little bit inconsistent, but I feel like we've also learned a lot from who we've played. The guys understand that we might struggle at times, but if we gain something from that, it's worth it."

Schaumburg's quest for a divisional title is far from assured. The Saxons have games against second-place Barrington (18-5, 8-1) and against Fremd (11-8, 5-3) before divisional play concludes.

For Palatine, the primary goal this season is now a bit further off in the distance.

"Winning conference is off the table for us at this point," said Grzybek, "so we're really using the rest of the season to get ready for sectionals."

Both Schaumburg and Palatine will be part of the Barrington sectional, which will include all of the Mid-Suburban West schools plus McHenry, Rolling Meadows and Elk Grove.