Girls water polo: Buffalo Grove tops Hersey to win MSL East
Buffalo Grove goalkeeper Shanelle Cadle was nervous most of the day preparing for a rematch with Hersey.
The Bison girls water polo team needed to beat the Huskies by 2 goals to claim the Mid-Suburban East championship.
Cadle, a senior, did her part by making 16 saves in Buffalo Grove's 5-3 win over Hersey at Prospect High School Wednesday night.
The win puts Buffalo Grove (20-4, 9-1) in the Mid-Suburban championship game against Conant next Thursday.
"We had really been working hard in practice for this game," said Cadle. "I was nervous all day. We knew as a team that this was the biggest game to be in."
Buffalo Grove broke out to a 4-0 lead with 2:32 left in the second quarter before Hersey's Hope Fenwick scored for the Huskies.
Caitlyn Conroy scored 2 goals in the run. Cecelia Carlson and Didi Marosan each scored one.
Following Fenwick's goal Carlson scored what would be the difference maker with 12 seconds left before halftime for a 5-1 lead.
"We had nothing to lose in this game," said Carlson. "I'm really happy with the way that this team came through for us. Shanelle did a great job in shutting down their shots."
"I knew after that first half at Hersey would make a comeback," said BG coach Mike McPartlin. "Our girls and our goalie really had to step it up tonight."
Hersey's (20-5, 9-1) defense shut down the Bison defense but was not able to muster another goal until there was 6:44 left in the fourth quarter. Goalie Claire Lutz blocked 12 shots in the game for Hersey.
Annie Lindgren was able to score off a blocked shot by Cadle, who could not get to the ball. Lindgren scored again to make the score 5-3 with 3:24 left in the game.
Cadle came up with a big save with 56 seconds left on a shot from Hersey's Emily Born. Born had a second chance with 12 seconds left but her shot went wide.
"We had our chance with shots but they either went over the net or missed," said Huskies coach Megan Brownley. "You have to tip your hat to Buffalo Grove. They came out very hard in the first half and we could not match their intensity. What we had wasn't good enough. Still I'm very proud of the girls in the way they came back. I just wish our offense could have helped us more."
Cadle, an all-conference and all-sectional returnee, didn't sit on her laurels.
"Shanelle has a great work ethic," said McPartlin. "She picked up where she left off last year. She told me before the season that she wanted to make this team better than last year and to be a stronger goalie."
"We had great communication out with the other girls tonight," said Cadle. "I trusted my defense. I did a lot of offseason work to help me prepare for this season."