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H-F’s defense stymies Bremen
Updated: May 14, 2011 10:10PM
Bremen Co-op came into Saturday’s Lincoln-Way North Sectional girls water polo final against Homewood-Flossmoor rolling offensively. And when the Red Jaguars scored 27 seconds into the match, it seemed like that might continue.
H-F’s vaunted defense had other ideas. The Vikings shut out Bremen over the next 26½ minutes and rolled to an 11-2 win in Frankfort to advance to their second straight state tournament.
“It was a great way to win,” H-F coach Pat Duignan said. “Bremen is a really strong team and to be able to control them the way we did is impressive. The beautiful thing is it’s everybody doing the job on defense. It’s all the little things that make the difference.”
The Vikings, who finished fourth in the state last season, will meet Fenwick in a quarterfinal Thursday in Lincolnshire. It’s a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal, won by H-F.
Michelle Mayer scored four goals and Rebecca Mathews added three to lead the Vikings (29-3) on Saturday. Hannah Ongman and Anny Tenny each scored twice and Sophie Schloen made 11 saves.
Nora Plank had both goals for Bremen, which finished 22-8 after advancing to its first sectional title game.
After the Red Jaguars’ first goal, H-F responded by scoring the final four goals of the first quarter. Mathews found the net twice.
Mayer added three first-half goals and Ongman scored twice on shots from near mid-pool as the Vikings took a 7-1 lead.
“Our offense was amazing,” Mayer said. “We had great team chemistry. This was a really fun week and we can’t wait for next week.”
With H-F taking away Bremen’s top scoring options in Plank, Emma Martinus and Jessie Mroczek, the Red Jaguars’ second goal didn’t come until there was a minute left in the game.
“I was a little rattled after that first goal,” Schloen said. “But often times I’ll give up a goal in the first minute and then settle down. We knew they could shoot from anywhere and we were ready.”
Bremen coach Sue O’Sullivan gave all the credit to an H-F squad that won its three sectional games by a combined score of 40-7.
“They played awesome and they’ve been here before while our girls probably had some nerves,” she said. “This was a great season for us, though.”
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