Fenwick takes state title- again

Updated: May 21, 2011 8:59PM

Fenwick coach Jack Wagner took an extra moment to give Friars senior Annie Collins a huge bear hug after she was given her state championship medal.

Wagner had challenged Collins to become the best player in the pool after Fenwick had lost in the semifinals of their conference tournament.

“I basically told her at the conference tournament, ‘You’re a senior, is this how you want to be remembered? Or do you want to step up and be a stud?’ ” Wagner said. “We’re a team, but she provides our toughness and I just wanted to let her know how much she meant to me.”

Collins responded to the challenge, scoring four goals to lift the Friars to their sixth championship in the last eight years Saturday with a 9-6 victory over host Stevenson in the state title game.

“I’ve thought about this since I was a freshman, coming in having never played water polo,” Collins said. “Jack taught me everything I know and I admire him and can never thank him enough.”

Freshman Cara Borkevec had two goals and Haley Wickham and Gena Wendt each added a goal for the Friars (26-8), who avenged not even earning a state trophy for the first time in seven years last season.

“It’s Fenwick, it’s what we do,” Friars senior Maggie Carey said. “Our cheer before the game was ‘Bring it back,’ and that’s all we wanted to do.”

Bringing the state title back to Fenwick was especially sweet for Friars goalie Mackenzie Bonk, who had seen every one of her older siblings do the same.

“Watching my sister and brothers win state championships before me, it’s been a lot of pressure to win one,” Bonk said. “I didn’t even want to talk about it with them. But now I’ve got mine.”

Karen Lowry (three goals) scored twice in 27 seconds to pull the Patriots (27-9) within 8-6 with 3:50 remaining in the fourth. But Fenwick’s Alex Ovalle scored with 58 seconds left to end the threat.

“I don’t think people expected much out of us,” said Lowry, whose team beat St. Ignatius 9-7 earlier in the semifinals. “But leaving now, having beaten some really great teams and finishing second, I think they have respect for us.”

Cheyenne Montijo added two goals for Stevenson, which finished second for the first time since it lost to Fenwick in the 2005 state title game.

Earlier, Stephanie Fernandez (five goals) and Katie Stelnicki (four goals) led St. Ignatius (26-5) to a 12-4 win over Mother McAuley in the third-place game.

“It’s nice to get another state trophy, but it’s not the one we wanted,” Stelnicki said. “We’re still bummed about [the 9-7 loss in the state semifinals] to Stevenson. But coming out and having fun in our last game was an accomplishment and a great way to end the season.”

Meghan Murphy, Becky Insalaco and Maggie Maloney each added a goal and Katie Murphy had six saves for the Wolfpack, who finished second last season.

Victoria Arciniega had three goals and sophomore goalie Sarah Abbott made four saves for the Mighty Macs (18-16), which claimed their first state trophy since finishing second in 2008.

“We surprised a lot of people by making it this far,” Mother McAuley senior Jackie Knightly said. “We had a lot of ups and downs and we put in a lot of work this season to get to the point where we could turn it on in sectionals and now finish fourth.”

Knightly had a goal for Mother McAuley, which lost 8-4 to Fenwick in the other state semifinal.

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