Schaumburg boys' amazing success to continue at state
From 1 victory to one of the top eight teams in the state.
This was a sight that would have been hard to predict two years ago.
With a berth in the state boys water polo quarterfinals locked up just minutes earlier, Schaumburg seniors Drew Cinelli and Kevin Kledzik led the Saxons out of their locker room into a sea of family, friends and well-wishers, each player with one hand holding the Hoffman Estates sectional championship plaque Saturday.
"(Me and Kevin) were third-string JV sophomore year and we didn't even see the water," Cinnelli said with a laugh. "We worked our way up to senior captains."
The entire squad has worked its way up since its 1-15 record in 2006.
With a 16-15 mark and sectional semifinal appearance last season, the Saxons (24-7) took it two steps further this week, as they defeated No. 1 seed Conant 10-6 and advanced to Thursday's state quarterfinal at Stevenson against four-time defending state champion Fenwick.
"We're very proud," said Schaumburg coach Tom Gallagher. "We've got some kids that make the necessary sacrifices to be better."
With a quarterfinal victory over Rolling Meadows (18-17 in 2 overtimes) and a 15-7 win over Barrington in Friday's semifinal, the Saxons were more than primed for their championship opponent.
They arrived at Hoffman an hour before the match, feverishly jumping up and down on the pool deck as they waited to splash into the water for warmups.
"We were pumped up for the last week, getting ready for this game against Conant," said Schaumburg's Chris Corbett, who scored with 1:55 left in the first half to snap a 2-2 tie. "We had a feeling what they were going to do on defense."
While Neal Salemi (16 saves) was archoring the Saxons' defense, Kledzik, Aaron Johnson, Pat Kraulis each found the back of the net once, Mike Kehoe scored twice, and Cinelli tallied 4 goals for the second consecutive match.
That enabled Schaumburg to not only avenge 2 losses to Conant (6-5 on April 3 and 11-7 on April 24), the Saxons snapped the Cougars' 18-game winning streak.
"I said since the last time they beat us, 'We're going to see them again at sectionals,' " Cinelli said. "Everybody played great. Even the guys who didn't play a minute worked us so hard in practice."
But for the Cougars (27-5-1), who were led by senior Chris Emery's hat trick, there won't be a repeat state appearance to add to this season's first Mid-Suburban League title.
"We didn't know the feeling (of losing a sectional title game)," said Conant's Mike Varga, a West Virginia-bound senior. "Now we know the other end of it and it's not something we wanted to feel. Schaumburg played great."
And with another game remaining against arguably the best team in the state, the Saxons have at least another 28 minutes left of what has been an outstanding third season.
"At the awards assembly after we went 1-15, I stood in front of everyone and said, 'State would be great it '08,' " Gallagher said.
"And here we are."