Lockport rallies for victory

Updated: May 12, 2011 11:00PM

Late in Thursday’s Lincoln-Way North Sectional quarterfinal water polo match between Lockport and Andrew, the Porters appeared done.

Lockport’s two top scorers had fouled out, its assistant coach had been ejected and Andrew, getting great play from goalie Will Cotton and balanced scoring, seemed to be in control.

An unexpected hero, though, would not let Lockport go down. Junior David Hir scored nine goals, including the game-winner with 10 seconds left as the third-seeded Porters rallied for a 10-9 win.

“This was definitely my best game,” said Hir, who said his prior season high in goals was “maybe four.” “It was a really intense game and we knew if we pulled together we could win it.”

Lockport (19-10) trailed by as many as three goals and was down two for most of the second half. It was an 8-7 lead for sixth-seeded Andrew (18-12) with 6:05 left when Lockport’s top scorer, Brian Cavanaugh, fouled out and an assistant coach was ejected.

John Fitzgerald (2 goals) then scored on a penalty for the T-bolts to make it 9-7 with 5:44 to go.

It was all Hir the rest of the way. He scored off a Chris Formosa pass with 1:52 left then tied it on a backhand shot with 1:16 to go.

After the teams traded turnovers, Hir provided the winner with another backhand shot. Andrew was called for an offensive foul in the final seconds.

“I like to mix it up so the goalie won’t know to expect,” Hir said. “The backhand worked really well at the end because he was used to me going over the top.”

Charles Boutros and Shane Garren scored two goals each for Andrew and Cotton made 14 saves.

In another thriller, Lincoln-Way East (9-19) outlasted Bradley 7-5 behind four goals from Ryan Stuart and 17 saves from Tom Vander Velde.

The Griffins were clinging to a 6-5 lead with 1:12 left when Stuart floated a lob shot from the left sideline over the head of Bradley goalie Gatlin Wheaton for the key insurance goal.

“I really liked that one,” Stuart, a senior, said. “That was a big goal to pretty much put the game away.”

Contributing: Chris Murphy

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