McAuley stops Palatine in state tourney

Palatine's first trip to the girls water polo Elite Eight ended with a 13-8 loss to Mother McAuley on Friday night at Stevenson High School.

Coach Mitch Tucker hopes it can also be a beginning of sorts.

"We don't want just making it to the state tournament to be the be-all, end-all," he said. "This year's team set the standard - far and away our best team. It's up to next year's group to accept the challenge of seeing if we can be even better."

McAuley advanced to meet Fenwick in the second of two Saturday semifinals at 12:45 p.m., following Stevenson and St. Ignatius in the other semi. The semifinals losers meet for third place at 5 p.m., while the semifinal winners decide the state championship at 8 p.m.

McAuley surely showed it belonged among the state's elite. Rather than regularly double-team 2-meter standout Rachel Chumbook, they instead opted to challenge possession at the perimeter. Their approach was disruptive enough the Chumbook, the program's all-time leading scorer, didn't get as many touches as usual.

That allowed a few opportunities for long-range aces Caroline Wojtas (4 goals) and Caitlin McHugh (2), but McAuley's knack for forcing turnovers gave them more chances - and seniors Clare Bryar and Fran Williamson took advantage.

Bryar finished with 6 goals and Williamson had 5.

"No doubt, they were really good about swimming out to our shooters," said Tucker. "We felt like we could get some things going our way by driving the ball, and we did generate some kick-outs that way - but we didn't do a particularly good job of taking advantage of them."

Palatine (27-6) was within 7-5 at the half after a pair of Wojtas goals to close the second quarter, much to the delight of a vocal Pirates fan base. But McAuley (24-8) shut out Palatine 2-0 in the third quarter, then scored the first 3 goals of the fourth quarter to take control.

Many of this year's Palatine players will return next season, but it will exceptionally hard to replace key seniors Chumbook and standout goalie Kim Butler.

A depleted Chumbook, eyes reddened, was reflecting over what was likely the last game in the sports she adores.

"I just love the way it makes me feel," she said. "And Kim meant everything to our team. She's the one that brough the intensity, got us ready to play."

Even with an eye on a bright future, Tucker was regretting the idea of coaching a team that doesn't have Chumbook pumping in 6 or 8 goals each time out.

"I'm so happy for her that we got here," Tucker said. "Nobody deserves it more than that kid."