Boys water polo: Naperville Central breaks out vs. Naperville North
Tuesday's 14-4 win by the Naperville Central boys water polo team at Naperville North was the last match for either squad for two weeks with spring break next week.
So it was a perfect time for both squads to take stock of what has transpired so far in the season.
The Redhawks moved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference.
"I think we show a lot of promise. We're not playing as well as I would like, but we are still working on finding the combination of players that works best together," said Naperville Central coach Bill Salentine.
The Redhawks put a tight grip on the match early, jumping out to a 4-0 advantage after the first quarter on goals by Owen Codo, Henry Mills, Cam Dougherty and Ben Russo.
Russo led Naperville Central with 5 goals, Mills had 4 and Codo 2.
"We're getting in shape. It's not been too special up to this point. It's about getting prepared for the postseason," Russo said.
Mills added another goal in the second quarter, as did Mark Laboe.
"We're doing well driving on offense, a lot of good swimming. The defense gets tired out," Mills said.
Naperville North (6-5, 1-1) tallied its first goal of the match in the second quarter courtesy of Jack Tarintino.
The Redhawks erupted for 6 goals in the third quarter to take a 13-2 lead. Russo, Mills and Codo added more goals as did teammate Luke Klein-Collins. Jack Wallace scored for the Huskies.
Mills scored in the final period for Naperville Central, with Naperville North's Owen Jacobs and Chase McClure tallying for the Huskies.
It was the second victory for Naperville Central over Naperville North this season.
"North is a great team. It's always fun playing against guys you know. You cannot underestimate them because they can always be better than the time before," Russo said.
Winning goalie was Jonah Klein-Collins, who made 5 saves.
Naperville North coach Martin Bell was very pleased with how his team performed at Fenwick's Dan Lynch Classic last weekend. The Huskies defeated New Trier for seventh place and also defeated Stevenson. Bell thought that momentum would carry into Tuesday.
"It was a great weekend. We played some tough teams. And then we played this game. It was rough. We were hoping this would be a building block. But maybe it's a starting point and we can learn from it," he said.