Mustangs reign in Lake County

The Mundelein boys water polo team had the ball and a 1-goal lead over Stevenson on Saturday in the waning seconds of the Lake County Tournament's championship game at Vernon Hills.

"It was such a rush to pass the ball around knowing we were up," senior Ricky Lukacs said.

Mundelein controlled the ball over the final 10 seconds to secure a 6-5 victory over the Patriots.

Mundelein (5-0) was a 4-0 in tourney play. Stevenson, the defending champion, went 3-1 and fell to 4-2 on the season.

"It feels so good after last year to be Lake County champions," Lukacs said.

The two teams will play a conference match at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Mundelein.

But Stevenson coach Sean Wimer said he puts more stock in this tournament because Vernon Hills has an all-deep pool.

Will Davidson, a freshman, scored the game-winning goal for Mundelein with a little more than four minutes remaining. When Mundelein coach Rahul Sethna inserted Davidson in the game, the coach gave him specific instruction.

"I told him to shoot when he had the ball," Sethna said. "He's an important part of our team."

Wimer has called Greg Spigelman one of the best players in the state, and he lived up that billing Saturday, scoring 3 goals for the Patriots.

"He was fired up," Wimer said. "He put us on his shoulders."

Stevenson won all three meetings against Mundelein last year. The Patriots' victory in the sectional final knocked Mundelein out of the state tournament. The previous two years, the Mustangs had finished fourth in the state.

"We were home for the state tournament and that really motivated our senior class to play in the summer and the fall," Sethna said.

In the sectional final, Spigelman limited Lukacs' effectiveness. Lukacs came through Saturday with 2 goals and 3 assists.

"Ricky's our only four-year member of varsity," Sethna said. "Stevenson took him out of the game last year, and today he wanted to do what he normally does."

Davidson, Mike Begrowicz, Mike McClure and Mike Mihel all tallied once for the Mustangs. Pat Falconer and T.J. Klink each had 2 assists. Falconer contributed a team-high 6 steals.

Stevenson trailed 5-2 at halftime but rallied with a trio of goals in the third quarter.

The Mustangs' defense regrouped in the fourth quarter.

"Our forte is defense," Sethna said. "We've always struggled a little on offense and defense is more of our identity. We know that will keep us in games."

Senior goalkeeper Kevin Coughlin stopped Stevenson's final shot with about 15 seconds left.

"I had to be ready for that shot," said Coughlin, who retrieved the rebound. "We knew we had it after that. We just had to play a good game of keep away."