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ILLINOIS WATER POLO |
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Monday - April 12, 2004 GAME RECAPS
Naperville North Comes From Behind To Stun Neuqua Valley By Aaron Brown
Naperville, IL -- It might not have looked pretty, but #9 Naperville North dodged a bullet with a 15-14 win over #16 Neuqua Valley on Monday night. The Huskies trailed by two goals with 2:30 left in the game, but they scored five goals in a flurry of action down the stretch to improve to 13-3 on the season.
The Huskies jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, as Jon Rapchak scored two goals and Andrew Fitch added another score in the first three minutes. Alex Totura cut the North lead to 3-2 on a powerplay goal with 1:08 remaining in the opening period, but the Huskies responded with two goals in the final minute. North goalie Justin Licht made a diving save and launched a full-court pass that Fitch batted over his head into the back of the net for a 4-2 lead. Fitch would add another goal from seven meters out as the buzzer sounded to give the Huskies a 5-2 advantage after one period.
Rapchak opened the second quarter with his third goal to make it 6-2, and Licht made three consecutive saves to keep the Huskies ahead by four. Jarrett Pivarunas flipped in a backhand goal with 4:33 left in the half to make it 6-3, but Rapchak scored once again from two meters out to keep North in front by four goals. Licht made a save on Pivarunas' two meter shot, but Totura recovered the rebound to score from two meters out. Dan Lebling made the score 7-5 at halftime with a shot from seven meters that hit the right corner of the net.
Totura caught fire in the third quarter, scoring twice in the first three minutes to tie the score at 7-7. Rapchak temporarily stopped Neuqua's momentum with a goal from the point on an assist by Nick Landiak. The Wildcats would respond in a big way, as Totura tied it with another rebound goal, and then made a steal and scored on a breakaway to give Neuqua Valley its first lead with 2:15 remaining in the third quarter. Lebling would put the Wildcats ahead by two at the end of the quarter with a lob shot to make the score 10-8 entering the final period.
Naperville North looked to respond in the first minute of the fourth, as Alex Buck recovered a rebound and lobbed a shot over Neuqua goalie Ryan Mulligan to make the score 10-9. Neuqua answered immediately, as Ian Johnson hit a shot from the right wing for an 11-9 advantage. Licht made a powerplay save on Neuqua's next scoring opportunity, and that led to a seven meter goal from Rapchak. Lebling added a two meter goal for the Wildcats to make the score 12-10 with 3:34 left in the game, but Landiak came right back with a seven meter goal for the Huskies to trim the lead back to one. Neuqua had a chance to score on their next possession, but Fitch made a steal and North took a timeout with 2:30 remaining in the game.
After the timeout, Fitch took a pass from Rapchak at two meters and scored on a sweep shot to tie the score at 12-12. Landiak then made a steal and assisted Fitch on a goal to give North the lead with 2:19 to play. The Huskies added another goal after Buck drew an ejection and Rapchak hit a seven meter shot with only 1:25 remaining. Johnson got the Wildcats back to within one with a score with 0:17 to play to make it 14-13. But North took advantage of Neuqua's aggressive defense and Buck found Landiak open at seven meters for an insurance goal, and Johnson's shot from the right wing went in the right corner as time expired, and the Huskies escaped with the 15-14 win.
Rapchak had seven goals and Fitch added six scores for the Huskies. Licht also made 12 saves in the win for North. Totura led Neuqua with seven goals of his own, while Lebling and Johnson each added three scores.
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