Boys water polo: Short-handed St. Viator falls to St. Rita
Call them the Iron Men.
Due to spring break commitments, St. Viator had only eight players available for Wednesday's boys water polo game against St. Rita in Arlington Heights.
Still, despite the limited roster - the Lions fielded four freshmen among the eight - Viator put forth a stalwart effort in a 17-7 loss to the Mustangs.
The final score would have been closer without the superb play of St. Rita goalie Sebastian Chaidez, one of the state's top keepers.
Time after time, Chaidez stopped the Lions on point-blank shots.
"It was tough today," said St. Viator senior Tyler Coupe, "but St. Rita is a good team. I'll call this a learning experience for us, for the new guys especially.
"If the freshmen keep playing like they did today," added Coupe," when we get our six players back from vacation, we're going to bounce back and play great."
Lions freshman Leo Marcinkus was pressed into service as goalkeeper as the regular Viator goalie was out.
It was the first time Marcinkus played in goal in a high school game.
"It was pretty scary to be honest," said Marcinkus with a laugh. "They (the Mustangs) have a lot of people with really strong arms. It was pretty fun though.
"We'll learn from this, and we were able to score some goals against this team so we'll take that as a positive."
St. Rita shot to quick 4-0 lead in the first period, but goals from Coupe and teammate Jimmy Hamilton helped Viator closed the gap.
The Mustangs opened up a big halftime advantage by outscoring the Lions 8-2 in the second quarter, then Viator outplayed Rita in the third stanza.
The Lions (8-5) peppered Chaidez with shot after shot, but the Rita keeper was up to the challenge, making big save after big save.
"I had to be alert," said Chaidez. "We came in confident and (because the Lions were short-handed) coach told us to make them swim and get them tired out. The Catholic League has been a lot better lately than years before and this was a difficult game for us."
"It was just fundamentals for us today," said Mustangs coach Sig Fredo, whose roster sported 17 players Wednesday. "Just stick to fundamentals - we've been successful this year and we've got a great group of guys.
"Viator had some kids on spring break." Unfortunately that happens but they're a very solid team."
Marcus Lannie and Coupe tallied goals for the Lions in the third period, while it was Luis Wendling, Hamilton, and Coupe again with goals in the final stanza.
"Our starting goalie and three other starters were out today," said Viator coach Mike Miklius. "It was exhausting for the guys that were out there. It's like usually running a mile and then having to go out and run two miles.
"Their goalie was very impressive," added Miklius. "He might be the best we've seen so far. We felt like if we could have gotten off to a better start we could have been more competitive."