Sports
Water Polo: Central Rolls On Senior Night
Naperville Central 12, Hinsdale South 3. The Redhawks score the first 12 goals of the game en route to upping their record to 16-1 on the season.
boys water polo had high hopes for this season despite the graduation of all-state players Mark Menis and Ryan Stanley.
With the majority of the regular season in the books, those hopes appear to be turning to reality.
Thursday’s 12-3 non-conference win over Hinsdale South on Senior Night left the Redhawks at 16-1 on the season. There are still 13 matches left in the regular season, but Central did find out on Thursday that it will be the top seed in the Neuqua Valley Sectional in March.
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“We lost our star player from last year, but we came in thinking big,” Central senior Pat May said. “Now, we’re just trying to prove ourselves. I’m surprised at how well this team meshes. The juniors really work well with us. It makes it a fun and competitive environment.”
Following a pregame ceremony honoring the programs six graduating seniors, the Redhawks wasted little time getting to work against the young Hornets.
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Less than a minute in May got the scoring started and Central never looked back. Kristian Altuve, Kyle Rickert and Jay Howenstine all added goals in the first quarter, as well.
The lead swelled to seven by halftime a Rickert scored two more of his team-high four goals and Matt Reasons capped off the scoring.
“We were trying to work on a few things tonight,” Central coach Bill Salentine said. “A few guys, Rickert, Altuve, May, they tend to be our big scorers. We tried to get the ball spread out a little bit, try to get everybody a touch and go from there.”
The Redhawks had trouble getting things going early in the third quarter before exploding for three goals in a minute to take a 10-0 lead and put the match away. Jeff Depew, Howentine and Reasons did the honor in the third.
Hinsdale South, winners of five games and the No. 8 seed out of nine teams at the Neuqua Valley Sectional, outscored Central in the fourth, 3-2. The Hornets scored three goals in the final 2:06 with Matt Dejewski, Tyler Knaut (who is the team’s only senior this season) and Ryan O’Toole scoring the goals.
“We only have one senior, so we’re real raw,” Hinsdale South coach Rick Townsend said. “They’re good kids. I don’t have a lot of hair because of it, but we’re trying to have some fun with it. I’ll tell you what; they’re going to be tough with the experience this year. By the end of the season, we will have faced 10 of the top 25 teams in the state, so we’re not ducking anybody. We’re not afraid of competing, but we’re just not at that level yet.”
Rickert and Josh Arneson scored for Central in the fourth.
The Redhawks will get yet another look at the program’s nemesis, Fenwick, Saturday. Central has never beaten the Friars in program history, and they are currently the top two ranked teams in the state on illpolo.com. Fenwick beat Central, 11-8, in the state title game last spring.
“Fenwick is always a good learning opportunity,” May said. “It’s unfortunate that we’ve never won, but we’re looking forward to it. It’s always been a goal for us to beat them.”
