Boys water polo: Fremd's hearty effort not quite enough against New Trier

Fremd's performance in the boys water polo state quarterfinals against New Trier sure started well enough.

An open-water steal and score by senior standout Alex Nicholas.

A perimeter shot from Derek Warnstedt, and a successful zing from the wing by Ryan Dudar.

Yep, just past the midway point of the first quarter, underdog Fremd had jumped out to a 3-0 lead against a Trevians team ranked No. 4 in the state by illpolo.com. As impressive as what the scoreboard was saying, a more subtle fact was even more amazing: New Trier hadn't even put a shot on goal.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, the turnabout over the remainder of the period was just as dramatic, as New Trier outscored Fremd 5-1 to grab a 5-4 lead heading into the second quarter.

Fremd stayed close through the third quarter before New Trier pulled away to a 13-7 victory Thursday afternoon at Stevenson High School.

The Trevians (30-3-1) will meet the host Patriots, a 13-7 winner against Lyons, in Saturday's 9 a.m. semifinals.

Fremd, the Mid-Suburban League champ making the program's second state trip under coach Brian Newby, bows out with a record of 25-6.

"Over these last three weeks, I've asked my guys to use their heads but to play with their hearts," said Newby, "and that's exactly what they did these last three weeks. I couldn't be prouder of our guys."

The total number of ejections was fairly even, as Fremd drew 8 and New Trier drew 10. But the Vikings were more dramatically affected, as senior scoring leader Robert De Pau and Dudar both were assessed with 3 and were excluded from the latter portions of play.

Nicholas ended up leading Fremd in scoring with 4 goals, and Dudar had 2.

With New Trier leading 8-4 late in the second quarter, Nicholas kept the Vikes close, first converting a penalty shot generated by senior teammate Dylan Assmann, and later scoring on a quick set to the 2-meter area. New Trier led 8-6 at the half.

Senior goalie Zak Keper also had a hand in keeping Fremd close with terrific play in the third quarter, when New Trier was limited to 2 goals, one of which came on a penalty shot. Keper finished with 9 saves, nearly all of them on quality scoring chances.

Nicholas isn't finished with water polo and will compete next school year at McKendree University in downstate Lebanon.

In the postgame moment on deck at Stevenson, that promising future didn't quite offset the finality that came with the end of his prep experience. Asked what he'll miss most about high school water polo, Nicholas said with eyes reddened by chlorine: "I know this sounds corny, but there's no one single thing I'll miss most - I know I'll miss it all."