Saxons claim physical battle

This girls water polo match was so physical that a player even got hit during a timeout.

After putting Schaumburg up 9-6 in the fourth quarter, junior Nicole Mundi swam to her bench for instructions and a well-deserved drink of water.

Mundi received directions from coach Becky Wutz, but also an unexpected thud as a teammate accidentally threw a purple water bottle from the bench that knocked Mundi squarely in the face.

But after Mundi scored 7 goals on Thursday, leading the host Saxons (7-15, 3-7) to a 10-8 victory over Mid-Suburban League West rival Conant, there was nothing that was going to knock this beaming smile off her face.

"It's pretty big, we haven't won against them ever," said Mundi, who scored the game's final goal with 10 seconds remaining. "It's probably one of the biggest wins (in program's 3-year history)."

But it didn't come without a fight.

With only one referee available for the opening 14 minutes, the conference finale for both teams got really aggressive, really fast.

"It was a very dirty game, it usually is (between Schaumburg and Conant)," said Conant senior Dana Losch, who scored a team-high 4 goals. "It's harder with one ref because they have to watch the ball more than trying to watch the individual players and what's going on."

After Conant senior Annette Wojciechowski scored on a 6-on-5 with 2:07 left, it appeared that this slugfest was headed to half knotted 3-3.

Mundi had other ideas.

Conant junior Brianne Sochacki made a great save on a shot from freshman Sammy Schuckles with 45 seconds left, but Mundi collected the rebound and fired in her third goal.

Goalkeeper Gryte Satas stopped a Conant advantage on the other end, and Mundi found the back of the net again -- this time at the halftime buzzer.

"She's a tough girl, she's a fighter," Wutz said of Mundi, a third-year varsity player. "She's been tough all season, but she doesn't do it alone."

Seniors Katie Cavanaugh and Ashley Wulf scored for the Saxons, as did sophomore Danielle Vetter. Sophomore goalie Jackie Sumsky, who played the majority of the game, faced a barrage of shots as the Saxons held off a furious fourth-quarter rally from the Cougars (14-9, 5-5).

Losch notched her fourth goal with 3:43 left, and sophomore Hannah Duke tallied a goal 25 seconds later, trimming Schaumburg's lead to 9-8.

Conant had a man advantage with 1:01 remaining, but fired high with 38 seconds left on a potential game-tying shot. Mundi followed with her seventh goal.

"It was a good game, it just stunk that we had the one ref at the beginning of the game," said first-year Conant coach Tracey Thornley, whose team defeated Schaumburg 12-5 on April 3.

But unless the No. 3 seed Cougars and fourth-seeded Saxons each reach the Hoffman sectional final in 2 weeks, they'll have to wait until next season to continue that rivalry.

• East champion Prospect will be at West champion Fremd for the MSL title at 6 p.m. next Thursday.

Boys

Conant completed a 10-0 MSL finish as Mike Varga (3 goals), John Hansen (2 goals) and Blaine Grzegorek (2 goals) led an 11-7 West victory over Schaumburg.

Prospect clinched the East title as Sean Hansen scored 4 goals in a 6-5 win over Rolling Meadows.

Conant will host Prospect for the MSL title at 6 p.m. Wednesday.