Conant takes its best shot

Pump fake. Pass. Pump fake. Pass. The ball zipped around the perimeter during their man-up drill at last Friday's practice.

Forming an umbrella in front of the opposition's goal, the five Conant seniors waited for that one opportunity to load up and launch a low-lining laser toward the back of the net.

While Mike Varga, Chris Emery, Mike McGuire, Blaine Grzegorek and Yuki Morita are patient enough to wait for that right sight-line to open up, they can all see that the right time to make a name for Conant water polo is now.

"The guys are starting to realize that they're good and that they have the talent," said Conant coach Erik Hauser. "They know how important this is."

And what this group is aiming for -- besides the program's first conference championship -- is another taste of the state tournament experience.

"We're looking to repeat (as sectional champs)," said Varga, a third-team all-state selection last season with 107 goals. "The team is stronger and we're working together more this year. Plus, with the group of seniors -- it's a pretty tight-knit group."

Something that helped last season as the third-seeded Cougars (22-11, 8-3 in '07) found themselves in a series of nail-biters at the Palatine sectional.

After defeating Rolling Meadows 13-7 on March 20, the Cougars ran into the No. 6 seed Mustangs, and maybe a bit of overconfidence in the quarterfinals.

"The guys went into that first-round game thinking they were going to do the same thing (as the regular-season win)," Hauser said.

But it took a sudden death goal from senior Brendan Connolly -- his fifth score of the match -- for the Cougars to edge Meadows 15-14.

"We definitely should have won by more," McGuire said. "You have to learn how to play under pressure. That really helped us."

As in the following day. After splitting two matches with Fremd during the regular season, Conant squeezed past the Vikings 10-9 in the semifinals.

"We went into that (sectional final) game against Palatine with the confidence and the momentum," Hauser said.

But not with history on its side. Besides holding the previous four sectional titles, the top-seeded Pirates owned a 15-8 victory over Conant from exactly a month earlier.

"It was a pretty bad loss," Varga said of the setback, "but no one had doubts after that game. A lot of things that went wrong that first game we knew we could fix."

Locked in its second sudden death match in three days, Conant found itself 1 goal from its first sectional title -- at the same time, 1 goal from watching Palatine celebrate a fifth consecutive trip to state.

"It was kind of nerve-racking," Varga recalled.

It didn't show. After a remarkable finger-tip save from senior goalie Adam Longo, Varga received a pass and let loose with a rocket from 3 meters out on the weak side.

"There was a defender on me but I was calling for it just because it was a 1-on-1 -- I kind of felt the moment," the right-hander said. "I just pump-faked it once and shot."

Emery's eyes widened as he described "The Shot" that gave the Cougars a 7-6 win.

"I remember being on the left flat and seeing (Varga) with his signature dip move where he dips his shoulder," he said. "I saw it go in and that's when we all went crazy."

"I was really surprised the ball even went in," McGuire said. "He put it in a spot it shouldn't have even gone in."

While taking the Cougars to a place some maybe didn't think they would go -- the state quarterfinals.

"I think Palatine, because they beat us so bad (in the regular season), was maybe expecting to beat us real bad again," Hauser said.

Conant's run ended with a 17-4 loss to Loyola in the state quarterfinals, but with these five returning with big-game experience and with their flexibility to play any position, the Cougars could be a difficult match up this season.

"We're really interchangeable," Emery said. "We're not one of those teams where another team could look at us and say, 'That's their big guy, you have to look after him.'

"I'm sure they say it about Varga, but we also have Mike, who's going to shoot from the point. Yuki's going to get the breakaways, I'll get some breakaways and Blaine's got that strong shot."

And they can't wait to take aim.