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THE ILLPOLO REPORT

Week 8

The following is a summary of what took place during the most recent week in water polo action in Illinois. This is not a complete list; the purpose is to recognize several of the best performances from across the state that have been reported.

Players To Watch

BOYS

Joe Koziol (DLS)

Mark Gullickson (Lane)

GIRLS

Ellie Wingender/Sasha Levin (Mundelein)

Sammi Jaquez (Neuqua Valley)

Biggest Impact Plays

BOYS

Cameron Shewchuck (Loyola)

Shewchuck provided the game-winning goal in the closing stages of Loyola's 7-6 victory over Fenwick on Friday night.

George Duffy (Lyons)

Duffy tallied the game-winning goal with three seconds left as the Lions stunned top-ranked Naperville North 8-7 on Tuesday night.

Jeremy Siegel (DLS)

Siegel's rebound goal in the closing seconds of regulation helped lift the Meteors over York 9-8 on Saturday.

Nick Dalzell (Bradley)

Dalzell's goal in sudden-death overtime lifted the Boilers over LWN 12-11 on Tuesday.

Ross Davis (STC North)

Davis scored the game-tying and game-winning goals and made a game-saving steal in the final minute to help the North Stars beat Hersey 7-6 on Saturday.

GIRLS

Angie Skittone (Conant)

Skittone made a key block in the waning seconds of the Cougars' 6-4 victory over Palatine to help Conant clinch the MSL West. After the block, she also added an insurance goal to seal the win.

Perri Brinkmeier (York)

Brinkmeier connected on the eventual game-winning goal in York's 6-3 victory over Hersey on Thursday.

Top Goalie Performances

BOYS

Austin Mollway (Neuqua Valley)

Mollway racked up 38 saves and went 4-0 to help Neuqua Valley win the Conant Tournament on Saturday.

Shaurya Gilani (Stevenson)

Gilani made 52 saves to help the Patriots win their own tournament on Saturday, which included 7 of the top 10 teams in the state.

Trevor Prince (Loyola)

The Ramblers' goaltender made 21 saves and 9 steals to help Loyola finish 3-1 at the Stevenson Tournament in wins over three Top 10 teams.

GIRLS

Olivia Everhart (Evanston)

Everhart made 17 saves and earned a shutout after Evanston beat GBS 10-0 on Tuessday.

Jordin Hale (Oak Park)

The Huskies' goaltender blocked 42 shots as the team won the York Tournament and beat Sandburg 10-3 on Monday.

Biggest Surprises

BOYS

Everything About Week 8

Lyons upset top-ranked Naperville North on Tuesday. Loyola beat Fenwick by one goal on Friday at the Stevenson, beat Stevenson on Saturday, then lost to Naperville Central later in the day. Of course, the Redhawks lost to Stevenson a few games later.

Never seen a more wide-open season in 12+ years. Just sayin...get your state tickets early. They might be in higher demand than Blackhawks tickets when all is said and done.

GIRLS

Fenwick

No real surprises this week, but eight days after Okemos beat Fenwick en route to the Stevenson Tournament title, the Friars traveled to Michigan and earned a 12-8 win over Michigan's top-ranked team to win the Rockford Tourney.

News and Notes

Conference Week

The final week of the regular season brings a wide variety of conference tournaments and title games, from the MSL title games and crossovers to the CPS, CSL, MCAC, and WSC tournaments. Plus, the SWSC will crown a regular season champion this week.

USA Water Polo Podcast

In case you missed it this week, I talked with Greg Mescall on 'The Counter Attack Podcast' about the sport of water polo in Illinois.

Sectional Times/Schedules

As mentioned in a recent Illpolo Underground post, the times for the sectional play-in games as well as other Week 10 games can change, so keep an eye on the schedule for the latest updates and changes.

Super Ballers

BOYS

Andrew Shashin (Stevenson)

Mitchell Sokolsky (Stevenson)

GIRLS

Genevieve Curry (Oak Park)

Jordin Hale (Oak Park)