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Updated: May 14, 2011 10:41PM
Naperville Central’s boys water polo team was determined from the outset not to let the rematch of the girls water polo sectional final go Naperville North’s way.
On that account, the Redhawks made Saturday’s 19-5 win at Neuqua Valley a wild success. Naperville Central (29-4) returns to state for the fourth consecutive season, making the berth no less meaningful but all the more impressive as a model of consistency.
Naperville North finishes the year 17-12-3.
“Their halfcourt’s good, but what they do is their transition or their counter attack is where they easily got probably 13 of their (19) total goals, or whatever they had,” Huskies coach John Blumthal said. “Because they finish through every time, they’re going to get a mismatch and they know it. They’re so well-rehearsed in practice that it’s executed every time. …They got probably 13 goals over the perfect execution of their counter attack.”
Blumthal added that the Redhawks’ assortment of big-bodied, natural athletes caused plenty of matchup problems for his Huskies.
Kyle Rickert led all scorers with five goals for Naperville Central, four of which came in the first half. Kristian Altuve finished with four Redhawks goals, and Pat May (3), Dennis Herron and Pat May (3 apiece), and Nate Weeks (2 goals) also impacted the game’s offensive output.
Most importantly, the entire team continues to buy into a team-first approach to winning.
“They’ve all worked hard the last several years,” Naperville Central coach Bill Salentine said. “…They’ve been working hard during the swim season and they work hard in the weight room. None of them are selfish, none of them want to be ‘Me, me me.’ They’re looking for the open guy. Most of them are trying to throw it to the open guy rather than through the guy that’s trying to defend them.”
Naperville North’s Alex Hogenboom tied the game at 2 on his goal with 4:46 to play in the first period. That would be the second and final tie of the day.
Ryan Schickerling got the Huskies on the board first with a goal at the 6:14 mark but that lead was short-lived, as May tied it up at 1 and Rickert’s ensuing goal gave the Redhawks the 2-1 advantage.
Pat Stablein made 12 saves for Naperville Central and Matt Prestanario added two in a late-game stint. Matt Lesiecki stopped five shots for the Huskies.
Six second-quarter goals and four more in each of the third and fourth periods sealed the win for Naperville Central. The Huskies scored just once in the second half.
“I just always put in my best effort and the whole team does,” Stablein said. “And it’s really a team sport on defense, and we just try to work together.”
Afterward, Naperville Central celebrated by jumping in the pool and Salentine joined the team in the water. The Redhawks know, however, that their trip to state will not by any means be a pool party.
“We have to play together, keep our heads in the game and just the team-sport part again, play together and to each other’s skills,” Stablein said.
Boys state will be held Friday and Saturday at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire. Naperville Central faces Sandburg at 8:15 p.m. in a quarterfinal showdown. Sandburg (28-5) is ranked seventh and Naperville Central is No. 3, according to Illpolo.com.
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