Conant 14, Prospect 6

Stepping up to accept their prize from Conant athletic director Washington Bush, senior captains Mike McGuire and Chris Emery took hold of Conant's first Mid-Suburban League water polo championship plaque and raised it high for all to see and celebrate.

Truly a picture-perfect moment for the Cougars.

Conant's 14-6 victory over East champion Prospect (15-7) on Wednesday night set off a wild celebration that began when the Cougars' starters exited the pool to a rousing ovation with 1:17 left. Photos were snapped, and hugs were shared as Conant coach Erik Hauser took a celebratory swim with his team. Emery brought the party to the stands as a bucket of water found its target in JV coach Dave Jonen.

"It's honestly unbelievable to win a conference championship in boys water polo for the first time in school history," Hauser said. "I talked to the guys last night and said, 'Right now, you're MSL West division champs. What do you want to be?' "

Entering its first MSL championship appearance on a 15-match winning streak, Conant (25-4-1) did not bring a championship start, scoring only once in the first five minutes -- a 7-meter shot from junior John Hansen 56 seconds into the match.

"We had a little bit of a slow start but the guys kicked it in and started capitalizing on some turnovers," Hauser said.

Did they ever.

After Prospect senior Tim O'Grady (2 goals) muscled in for a 5-meter backhand flip that knotted the score at 2-2 with 10 seconds left in the first quarter, Conant senior Blaine Grzegorek took a pinpoint pass from Hansen (4 goals), lifted high out of the water on the strong side and unleashed a 5-meter rocket past Prospect goalie Brian Forrest (8 saves) as the buzzer sounded.

"Yeah, (Mike) Varga was saying, 'Those shots at the buzzer are a killer for the other team,' " said Grzegorek, who notched a hat trick in his final home match. "It's not only that we make the shot, it's a morale thing. That's when they start turning on each other."

The Cougars' onslaught continued in the second quarter as Varga scored 2 of his 6 goals in the opening 2:22 to ignite an 8-1 scoring run.

"There's a reason they're undefeated (in conference)," said Prospect coach Dan Gentry, whose team dropped a 14-4 decision at Conant on March 6. "They were ready to play, and unfortunately, they capitalized on our mistakes and we couldn't capitalize on theirs."

Prospect junior Charlie Mau trimmed Conant's lead to 5-3 in the second quarter, but the Knights went the next 11:52 without finding the back of the net. Hansen (2 goals) ended the drought 27 seconds into the fourth quarter.

"It was hard because we came (to the MSL title game) as freshmen and sophomores with the WildKnights," said Hansen, referring to the Wheeling/Prospect co-op that split prior to last season. "Coming back here we really wanted to go out (with a conference title) -- it just didn't happen."

Not with junior goalie Tony Passaro playing the game of his life for Conant. The first-year varsity starter made 14 saves, many in spectacular fashion.

"You couldn't ask for more from him," Varga said.

Or from the MSL champion Cougars.