Boys water polo: Naperville North places third at invite
Despite all the uncomplimentary things said about them, sometimes ties can actually be quite great.
When Naperville North's boys water polo team scored at the buzzer of a 9-9 match with highly regarded New Trier at Saturday's Huskie Invitational, the improbable draw delivered plenty of excitement and plenty of smiles.
The Huskies had led for much of the match only to fall behind 9-7 following a goal by the Trevians' Charlie Ryan with just 46.25 seconds left on the clock. But Naperville North's Cole Jacobs quickly struck back from the middle of the pool to give his team a glimmer of hope, and it set the stage for a dramatic finish.
With just more than 30 seconds left, the Huskies' Charlie Calvo stole the ball but had a shot blocked by the Trevians defense. With possession of the ball, New Trier called timeout with less than 14 seconds left.
When play resumed the Huskies defense limited the Trevians' passing options, and Naperville North goalkeeper Jack Roche came away with a steal. He then connected with Chris Popiolek with a pass and Popiolek got the ball to Calvo in the center of the pool just before the buzzer. Calvo's quick shot beat goalie Piers Braunrot even if there initially was some uncertainty as to whether it had beaten the clock.
"Coach was telling me I need to be on the goalie, that they'll be looking to spread out and we need to be sure we don't leave any man open," Calvo said of his team's strategy on the final play. "I'm sitting on the goalie and he didn't do anything and our goalie saved the game. He's the one who got that steal and he throws it down to my teammate Chris Popiolek and two opponents very quickly rushed him. Somehow he flips me the ball at 4 meters … just turn and fire was going through my mind. Honestly I didn't think I got it off in time. The officials at the end were questioning it, but they didn't overturn it. Without a doubt it was my most exciting moment."
Rallying to tie a 12-2-1 New Trier team, ranked No. 4 in the state, in the final seconds was great, but it was New Trier that advanced to the invite championship. There it defeated St. Charles North 14-4 for the title. Both Naperville North and New Trier had won their openers, but after the 9-9 draw, the Trevians advanced to the final based on goal differential.
Huskies coach Martin Bell liked the showing his team had against New Trier in a battle of top 10-ranked teams.
"It was a really exciting finish and a great end to the game. You don't ever want to tie but you don't want to lose," said Bell, whose team knocked off Stagg 17-7 in the third-place match. "Two great teams … we had a couple mental mistakes from seniors that we couldn't afford, and the ejections cost us. But that's why we have tournaments, to play against teams like this. You want to win every single game, but sometimes you can get more out of a loss (or tie)."
Jacobs led Naperville North with 3 goals, including the clutch long-range shot that closed the gap to 9-8. Mathew Magee had 2 goals and an assist for the Huskies before fouling out in the second quarter.
"I'm proud to say we couldn't have finished any better than we did," Jacobs said. "It was awesome. I'm just glad we were able to fight back.
"Personally, I knew I was going to shoot that ball before I got it. There were 42-something seconds left and we're down 2. You do the math - that's two possessions at the most. I knew we had to put it in the back and some point so I figured why not sooner than later?"