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THE ILLPOLO REPORT

Week 9

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

Colin Daly (Fenwick)

Zach Otto (LWC)

GIRLS

Jess Larson (LWN

Kate Godley (Wheeling)

Biggest Impact Plays

BOYS

Joey Dalesandro (Neuqua Valley)

Dalesandro pushed in the game-winning goal in the closing seconds of the Wildcats' 11-10 victory over LWC.

GIRLS

Diana Fernandez (St Ignatius)

Fernandez grabbed her own rebound and scored the game-winning goal in the Wolfpack's 9-8 win over Fenwick in the MCAC Tournament title game on Saturday night.

Lauren Johnson (Stagg)

Johnson scored the game-winner in the Chargers' 10-9 win over #23 Lincoln-Way East on Friday night.

Top Goalie Performances

BOYS

Jack Linden (Lyons)

Linden allowed less than 4 goals per game to help the Lions win the WSC Tournament title on Saturday.

Will Skowron (Fenwick)

Skowron made 25 saves to help the Friars win the Catholic League title after wins over Loyola, St Ignatius and St Viator.

GIRLS

Elizabeth McKenna (New Trier)

McKenna stopped 26 shots and allowed just three goals in the Trevians' 4-3 title game win over Evanston as they won the CSL Tournament over the weekend.

Jenny Stelnicki (St Ignatius)

Stelnicki allowed 5 goals per game to help St Ignatius win the Catholic League title after wins over Fenwick and Mother McAuley. She also provided the assist on the game-winning goal in the Wolfpack's 9-8 title game win over Fenwick.

Jocelyn Lent (Metea Valley)

Lent blocked 23 shots to help the Mustangs finish with an undefeated record at their own tournament on Saturday.

Jordin Hale (Oak Park)

Hale made 32 saves and earned a shutout as the Huskies won the WSC Tournament on Saturday.

Biggest Surprises

BOYS

Mundelein

The Mustangs are highly capable of winning big games, so their 11-10 victory over Barrington on Wednesday should give them optimism heading into the postseason.

GIRLS

Metea Valley

The Mustangs earned a draw with #17 Bremen and won two more games at their own event to jump to the #36 spot in the latest rankings. They also beat Whitney Young earlier in the week.

Morton

The Mustangs knocked off York in the WSC Tournament's quarterfinal round and jumped to the #33 spot in the latest rankings as the regular season has concluded.

News and Notes

Regular Season Complete

The nine-week regular season has come to an end after most teams have played 30 games and conference champs have been crowned.

Sectional Playoffs Begin

The sectional playoffs get started on Monday night with the play-in games on the girls' side and are followed by the play-in games on the boys' side on Tuesday. From there, two days of quarterfinal matches will be contested before a frenzy of water polo action goes down on Friday with the sectional semifinal round. The state tournament qualifiers will be determined on Saturday afternoon with 16 sectional final games spread throughout the state.

Super Ballers

BOYS

Ivan Ariza (Curie)

GIRLS

Diana Fernandez (St Ignatius)

Jenny Stelnicki (St Ignatius)

Karen Juarez (St Ignatius)