Girls water polo: Clutch finish lifts Conant past Hersey
Down the stretch of Thursday's Mid-Suburban League girls water polo championship game at Prospect, a couple of seniors made a big difference.
Conant and Hersey both had gone unbeaten against their divisional foes to earn their appearance in the title matchup - and both were playing like teams with that kind of pedigree, especially defensively.
The Cougars ended up with a 7-5 victory, giving them back-to-back MSL championships. Coach Justin Bickus' teams have played in four of the last five conference title games and have won three times.
This one was close the whole way.
The Cougars were clinging to a 4-3 lead to start the fourth quarter when senior Aly Wooley gave them some breathing room with a determined drive and score.
Hersey answered in championship fashion, as Ashley DaSilva scored twice after teammates had drawn ejections to tie it at 5-5.
And then it was time for A-Rod to shine.
That's Conant senior Amy Rodriguez, who fired away from about mid-pool with the shot clock winding down and found an upper corner for the go-ahead goal with just over a minute left.
"Shooting? That's my favorite part of the game," Rodriguez, a team captain, said through a wide grin on deck after the game.
Hersey had one more great chance after senior Madison Burkhalter drew an ejection at the other end on the next possession, but the Huskies were unable to convert.
Conant junior Gabi Konieczny came up with a goal in the final seconds after Hersey extended its defense in hopes of forcing a turnover.
Rodriguez ended up leading Conant (25-4) with 3 goals. Wooley had 2, and junior standout Olivia Olszewski had 1.
"As a senior," said Rodriguez, "it's a very different role for me. I feel like my main role is to make sure everybody's in the right place, trying to keep things organized for us. And then we've had all these amazing underclassman leaders step up - that's been so fun to see."
Hersey (23-4) was denied its goal of winning the overall league championship but came up with plenty of great play as well.
Freshman Annie Lindgren excelled in the first half while defending Olszewski in front of the goal, and Hersey's collective defense made Conant work for every opportunity.
Katie Lindgren, Emily Born and Burkhalter scored 1 goal apiece.
"I'm just so proud of this team," said Katie Lindgren, a senior. "We've really come a long way together."
The hope on Hersey's part is that there's yet a long way to go. The Huskies are the No. 2 seed in next week's Schaumburg sectional. The No. 1 seed is - you guessed it - Conant.
"I feel like we played pretty well," said Hersey coach Megan Brownley, "but there's still plenty for us to work on. It was the kind of game where the inches mattered - on a few passes, on a few shots - and it made a difference."
It certainly helped that DaSilva was on target. She's been scoring in bunches lately, including having 3 against a highly ranked Metea Valley team recently.
"Early in the season," said Brownley, "if she'd take a shot and miss, that would be it - she wouldn't shoot the rest of the game. But she's become a much more confident player. We need her to take those shots."
Goalie Lauren Day excelled for Conant, finishing with 8 saves, including the denial of a 5-meter shot. In addition to Rodriguez's dramatic late goal, she also drew 4 ejections and had 6 steals.
Wooley says a team-first approach has paid dividends for Conant all season.
"Even on my goal, sure, I scored, but I got a great pass to make that play possible, and we played great defense before that so somebody could make the pass," she said. "Everybody's doing their part."
All-conference selections
Barrington: Jackie West (Sr.), Courtney Blum (Sr.); Buffalo Grove: Shanelle Cadle (Jr.), Katie Wasilewski (Sr.); Conant: Olivia Olszewski (Jr.), Nia Tsoulos (Sr.), Aly Wooley (Sr.); Elk Grove: Alyssa Bonilla (Sr.), Kaylee Hatfield (Jr.), Melena Herrera (Jr.); Fremd: Lauren Streitmatter (Sr.), Sophia Kuehn (Soph.); Hersey: Madison Burkhalter (Sr.), Katie Lindgren (Sr.), Annie Lindgren (Jr.); Hoffman Estates: Abigail Fuscone (Jr.); Palatine: Maggie O'Brien (Fr.); Prospect: Colleen Doyle (Sr.), Rolling Meadows: Maggie Goodwin (Jr.), Schaumburg: Ingrid Hay (Sr.), Magda Jasinska (Sr.)