Boys water polo: Fremd finishes with flair at Conant

Fremd's boys water polo team has earned a winning reputation based primarily on a talented trio of seniors - Robert De Pau, Alex Nicholas and Dylan Assmann.

But as coach Brian Newby was eager to point out after the Vikings' key victory Monday at Conant, the success story goes a bit deeper than that.

The Vikings won 13-9, getting four straight fourth-quarter goals to finally better a determined Conant team that had rallied from 3 goals down to tie it at 9.

At 7-1 in the MSL West with 2 games left, Fremd has a 1-game lead over Barrington (6-2), with Conant (5-3) now in third place.

"People think of us as a team with the Big Three," said Newby, "but I think our success is more because we've found ways to have our other players be effective - maybe only scoring a goal or two each, but just playing well consistently in other ways."

The scoring totals were reflective of that. De Pau and Assmann finished with 3 goals and Nicholas had 2. But Ryan Dudar (2), Derek Warnstedt (2) and Nate Jordan (1) also scored, and Fremd's press defense consistently made possession difficult for Conant. DePaul led Fremd with 4 assists and Assmann had 3.

Braden Lamore was on target for Conant (8-8). He led all scorers with 5 goals - including a tying score with 5:51 left, a crisp skip shot from the perimeter.

But just nine seconds later, Fremd regained the lead on a De Pau goal, and went on to take command of the game - and the MSL West. The Vikings (17-4) last won the division in 2012.

Buffalo Grove 10, Prospect 5: The host Bison picked up a key victory in the pursuit of a Mid-Suburban East title as Brandon Monsen scored 3 goals and Kevin Carr had a pair for Buffalo Grove (13-9, 7-1), which remains tied with Wheeling for the division lead.

Isaac Ginnodo paced Prospect (10-8, 5-3) with 2 goals.

Anthony Murat stopped 15 shots in goal for BG.

Wheeling 17, Rolling Meadows 8: Nate Reiff and Jake Noel both scored 6 goals and Kyle Noel had 3 to help the Wildcats (15-8, 7-1) keep their share of the MSL East lead. Michael Dellorto and Ethan Masters both had 4 goals to lead the Mustangs (4-11, 2-6).

Palatine 11, Schaumburg 10 (OT): Adam Smith and Sean O'Brien scored goals late in regulation to force a tie, and the Pirates got the deciding goal from Jerome Gabriel in the first overtime mini-period.

Seniors Ivan Turkan and Marcus Carter-Buckman paced Palatine (6-11, 4-4) with 3 goals apiece, and senior goalie Jake Conrad stopped 16 shots.

Schaumburg (5-15, 2-6) got 3 goals from Matt Soltau and 2 apiece from Tyler Gustafson and Sam Thomas.

Elk Grove 7, Hersey 5 (OT): David Dragne had a pair of goals as the visiting Grens (6-10, 2-6) outlasted the Huskies (3-15, 1-7). James Lawrence scored twice for Hersey.

St. Viator 11, Maine South 10 (OT): Senior Will McEvoy scored twice and junior goalie Tim Bansfield stopped 11 shots to help the Lions (6-15) prevail in nonconference play.