Girls water polo: Naperville North secures emotional victory against Naperville Central

Before the Naperville North girls water polo season started in late February, junior Taylor Wessel met up with seniors Isabelle Rocco, Ali Horn and Kelsey Ryan.

In that get-together the foursome laid out their goals and expectations. Chief among them was a trip to state, which would be the team's first since 2014.

But there was one hurdle that the Huskies would have to overcome: cross-town rival Naperville Central.

The Redhawks had eliminated the Huskies in the last three sectional championships, with the teams having met in the sectional championship every year since 2013.

"From Day One we were like, we can do this," Wessel said. "We came together, just the foursome, and we were like, 'We can beat them, this is our year and this our team and we're going to take it.'"

So as the clock wound down, on Naperville North's 5-3 victory over Naperville Central, Wessel struggled to keep her emotions in check.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't hold back the tears. They had accomplished their goal.

"It was so overwhelming," Wessel, who scored 3 goals, said. "Just seeing that scoreboard up there, seeing what my teammates did, it made all the crying of the season and all the upsets worth it all."

Even after receiving the sectional plaque, jumping into the pool with her teammates and coaching staff - polos and khakis and all - Wessel couldn't process what had happened.

"I have chills all over my body I'm so happy," Wessel said. "I think just watching the scoreboard go down from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and seeing all my teammates so excited, I got emotional like, 'Oh my gosh, we did it.'"

Of course, it wasn't just the quartet that got together in the preseason that helped Naperville North (28-8) punch its ticket to next week's state tournament in at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. There were contributions from everyone, like freshman goalie Grace Raquel.

Clinging to the 5-3 lead with 1 minute, 56 seconds to play, Raquel came up with arguably the biggest save of the match. Naperville Central's Jodie Nelson found Payton Dezur inside 2 meters with a pass, but Dezur's shot was parried away by Raquel.

"One-on-ones are definitely the hardest shots," Raquel said. "We've been working the last couple of practices on what to expect for that one, so I definitely thought that that preparation definitely helped me."

Raquel knew that save was a bit bigger than the rest.

"That one I felt like everyone in the stands was like, this is what cemented this," Raquel said. "We were able move off that momentum and know that if can block that shot, we can go on and win it."

It was one of the few times Naperville Central (26-7) penetrated Naperville North's crashing defense.

"You hold another team to 5 goals, you should be holding a sectional plaque," Naperville Central coach Jeff Plackett said. "It just doesn't happen when the other team holds you to 3 (goals)."

Naperville North kicked things off from the onset. Just 12 seconds into the game, Ryan found Wessel inside 2 meters for a goal. Emily Wagner connected with Rylee Brower for a goal with 3:10 left in the first quarter to tie it.

But with 30 seconds left in the quarter, Ryan ripped a shot from just outside the 5-meter line into the lower left corner to restore Naperville North's lead.

In the second quarter Rocco carried the ball past the midway line and into the offensive zone, flipping a pass over Wessel's shoulder and setting her up with a 1-on-1 that she converted to make it 3-1.

With 4:19 left in the first half, Naperville Central drew a penalty and Brower converted it to make it 3-2 at halftime.

"Offensively, we're just driving and driving," Wessel said. "Where other teams kind of just have a main set and we don't have a main set. So offensively, it's just keep on moving, keep on driving, so that comes with a lot of endurance and speed."

The pressing style of play was rewarded again in the third period.

With 2:57 left in the third, Rocco connected with Wessel again it 4-2. Rocco collected a blocked shot inside 2 meters and tossed it into the open net to make it 5-2 with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.

Dezur found Charlotte Albright for a goal to cut the deficit to 5-3 with 2:52 to play.

"We just knew that we had to outswim them the entire time," Naperville North coach Andy McWhirter said. "Get to those positions first and drop off and take care of their sets."

And the Huskies will go into the state tournament with the same mindset they had Saturday.

"We have nothing to lose," Wessel said. "We're coming in, like we came in this game as the underdog. We're ready, we're ready to play our game and we're really excited."