Cougars, Saxons expect a wild West showdown

Schaumburg goalie Neal Salemi and the Saxons went 3-2 at their own Midwest Classic last weekend to finish fourth. Schaumburg squares off against Conant today (Thursday).
(Michelle Lohmann/Staff Photographer)

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Conant and Schaumburg saw each other at last weekend's Midwest Classic boys water polo tournament at Schaumburg.

But it was just a tease as the MSL West rivals didn't play one another.

That changes today (Thursday) when the Cougars and Saxons compete for division bragging rights in the season's first of two matches.

Both teams, ranked among the top 30 in the state by www.illpolo.com, entered the week 4-0 and tied for first place in the West. Conant was scheduled to play Palatine on Tuesday, while Schaumburg was supposed to battle Barrington before the neighborhood schools meet.

"A lot of kids played together over the summer, swam together and competed against each other," Conant coach Erik Hauser said. "I expect it to be a battle from start to finish."

Schaumburg had the better showing at its own event. The Saxons finished 3-0 in pool play Friday before losing both of their matches Saturday to end up fourth in the eight-team event.

Meanwhile, Conant finished 1-3-1 and beat Hoffman Estates 10-6 to place seventh.

"It was a rough weekend," said Hauser, whose team came into the week 10-4-1 overall. "We had some guys out for spring break, guys that didn't practice all week. We played a lot of tough teams and took our licks, but we will regroup."

Schaumburg coach Tom Gallagher was pleased with his team's performance, which allowed the Saxons to end the weekend 12-4 overall.

The Saxons beat Hoffman Estates 9-4, St. Louis' Lindbergh 12-4 and Latin 9-8 to advance to the championship round Saturday. Schaumburg led Mundelein by two goals in the semifinals but ended up with an 8-5 loss. Latin then got revenge on the Saxons with a 6-4 win in the third-place match.

St. Louis' University High, a two-time defending Missouri state champion, took the title with five wins, including a 9-5 victory over Mundelein in the final.

"This is a really good tournament," said Gallagher, who guided the Saxons to sixth a year ago. "I'd say it's the third best in the state behind Fenwick's and Brother Rice's."

Schaumburg showcased its defense last weekend, but the Saxons struggled offensively, especially in power-play situations.

"We feel like we've mastered the defensive end," Gallagher said. "The kids got the skills down, but we have to put the ball between the posts and underneath the crossbar. That will come."

Mike Kehoe scored twice in the third-place match, but the Saxons struggled to find the net most of the match. The junior added 10 goals in pool play.

But it was Kehoe's defense -- along with Chris Corbett, Kevin Kledzik and Aaron Johnson -- that carried the Saxons throughout the tournament.

"That's where we started three years ago was with defense," Gallagher said. "We knew if we could play good defense, we could play with anybody."

Despite the results last weekend, Hauser liked the way the Cougars played in the first half of the season. Behind returning starting seniors Chris Emery, Mike McGuire, Blaine Grzegorek, Mike Varga and Yuki Morita, the Cougars raced out to a 9-1 start before going in reverse last weekend.

"The guys tend to look at the stats too much, and that hurts their confidence," Hauser said. "They know they are a good team. I just wish they wouldn't focus on the stats and records so much. They have the ability to go out and win every game."

While his club came into the week tied for first in the West with Schaumburg, Hauser still thinks the division is a wide-open race. He considers Fremd, Palatine and Barrington the other contenders. All three of those teams entered this week's action 2-2 in the West. Hoffman Estates ended last week 7-9 overall and 1-3 in the division.

"I wouldn't rule out anybody," Hauser said. "All of these coaches are good enough to make adjustments from the first time they saw you play."