It's family night for Stec, York

York's Emma Stec had plenty of incentive for a memorable performance Thursday.

The sophomore, in her seventh varsity game, had numerous family members attend the nonconference home game against Mundelein.

Stec said her 2-month-old sister, brother, mother and grandparents were among the family members.

"This was the first time, for me, that the whole family was (at a game)," Stec said. "It was special and motivation for me to do really well, as well as my teammates."

Stec didn't disappoint her family nor her teammates, scoring a personal-high 6 goals to lead the Dukes to a 15-9 win over Mundelein.

The Dukes (6-1) also received 6 goals from junior Moleigh Waldherr to hold off a late charge by the Mustangs (1-1). The Dukes led 6-1 after the first quarter and seized a 10-3 halftime lead thanks to 2 second-quarter goals by Stec.

York coach Mark Giuliani said Stec has adjusted quickly to the varsity after playing on the frosh-soph team last year.

"She was pretty dominant last year, and it was pretty clear she was ready to step up here," he said. "I think she got out of the water once tonight. She had a really good game. She's a beast. It's really fun to have a sophomore that strong and aware. She's really good, and it's really fun to watch her play."

Waldherr is one of the most experienced players on a York team vying to make some noise this season. A three-year varsity player, Waldherr is also one of the leaders on the team.

"Moleigh is able to help her teammates who don't have much experience, just to see the pool and understand what they need to do," Giuliani said.

Waldherr scored the final goal in the third with 28 seconds left, then added the final one of the match at the 26-second mark in the fourth.

"Emma had a great first half and played amazing," Waldherr said. "I'm glad that our team is coming together and playing well. We started the season rough with a loss. But we've become a much stronger team because of it. Most of the girls, it's their first year on varsity, so I'm looking forward to how the season goes."

Despite giving up 6 goals in the second half, Giuliani said his team made progress against a talented Mustangs team.

"I was really impressed with the way the kids played," Giuliani said. "We have a young team, a big team of juniors and we're still learning a lot. We're not doing a good job on the perimeter with passing and pressure. We're relying heavily on the counterattack, but we're recognizing the floor well and that we need to leave on defense."

The Mustangs took some positives from the loss following a sluggish first half. Ella Krauss, a senior captain, paced the Mustangs with 4 goals, including 2 in the fourth.

"We didn't come out the way we wanted to play," Mundelein coach Mike Vukovics said. "The second half, especially in the third quarter, we showed a lot. We have a lot of young girls, so it was cool to see them grow and hopefully learned from this experience. Krauss is doing great now, doing a great job taking the younger girls under her wing. She's always willing to help out the younger girls and played good today."