Girls water polo: Stenson shines in state finale

The IHSA girls water polo state championship game saw the return of a familiar face as tourney host Stevenson made it back to the title game for the sixth straight spring against a team in Chicago Mother McAuley that hadn't been this far since 2008 when it made back-to-back finals appearances.

For Jeff Wimer's squad it was seeking to avoid a third straight title game defeat as it had dropped consecutive title games to Naperville North after having won three straight prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (2017-19).

Thanks to its senior leadership, it successfully held off a strong McAuley challenge to earn an 11-5 victory Saturday evening in Lincolnshire.

The win gave the Patriots (36-1) their fifth IHSA crown in program history and Wimer his eighth state title going back to the three he won (1994, 1996-97) at Mundelein.

"We talked about what our goal was at the beginning of the season was to play in the last game on the last day of the season," Wimer said. "I said we've gotten to where we want, let's have some fun."

For Stevenson it became fun eventually as it used a four-goal fourth period to pull away from the Mighty Macs (23-6-1).

Stevenson led only 7-5 at the start of the final stanza as McAuley rallied behind a pair of Andi Moriarty goals, a score from Ella Mulchrone plus Bella Morquecho's second score as well as 15 saves from junior Becca Enquist.

It began with the second of senior Becca Stone's three tallies just 52 ticks into the fourth followed by a score by freshman Olivia Spieth with 1:36 left and senior Camila Maya 20 seconds later that settled matters. Stone's third goal came with 14 ticks left for the final score.

Fellow seniors Elise Regalado (three goals) and Katie Delaney (18 Saves) also shined for the Patriots.

The Michigan-bound Delaney cherished the win after experiencing the heartbreaking results of the past two championship games.

"I'm just so excited we won finally (after) we've been second the last two years. This is really special, this just made my (senior) year."

"It never gets old," a smiling Wimer said as he escorted his team to receive their championship trophy and medallions.

"Winning is fun and it's great, but the values they get out of this are life-lasting."

YORK TAKES THIRD:

Behind a nine-goal scoring binge by senior Rose Jensen, York (29-4) took the third place trophy back to Elmhurst with a 17-8 win over Hersey. The San Jose State-bound Jensen set a single-game Saturday finals scoring record. Junior Jane Marlott added four goals while senior netminder Eva Graefe had seven saves for the Dukes who won their first state trophy in program history.

"I'm really proud of the girls. They played so well this season," York coach Mark Giuliani said. "They are a special group being led by (four) strong seniors. It's just a great group of girls (who) really worked well together. They enjoyed their time together. They had fun. There was no drama. It was just happy and the vibes were good."

Hersey (25-10), who earned their second fourth-place trophy in three years, was led by Chapman University (CA)-bound senior Annika Lindberg's four tallies.