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ILLINOIS WATER POLO |
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Friday - May 14, 2004 GAME RECAPS
Thoughts From State II By Aaron Brown
Lincolnshire, IL -- Not too much to say after Friday night's action that wasn't said in the play-by-play. We have had 150 viewers per night checking out the Live Scoreboard. As for me, I am well on my way to breaking some kind of caffeine record for a three-day period, and the effects might end up looking something like this.
Friars depth-When you draw up a game plan against Fenwick, what can the possible plan be? Every starter is strong and brings something special to the table, and they have to be the odds-on favorite to win state on Saturday. Emily Bonk is an offensive force, Liz Perry does everything well, and Erin Foley is always in position in goal. Add Farren Rixter in the middle on offense, a left-handed arm in Alison Pavlik, the defense of Mary McCarthy, and the agility of Keely Baldwin and it's almost like having a "dream team". They should be tough to beat in the semifinals.
Broncos appearance-Barrington had a rough welcome to the state tournament in the quarterfinals, as they trailed 7-0 almost as soon as the game started against Mother McAuley. Make no mistake, the Barrington swim program is of high quality, but their water polo team, as well as the majority of the teams they beat at their sectional, are from an area where water polo clubs are scarce and the high school programs are all relatively new. They fought hard until the end, and their goalie Courtney Hall made some pretty nice saves against a barrage of shots from McAuley's front line.
Behind the scenes-To my knowledge, Stevenson High School has hosted a near perfect state tournament thus far. Seeing the preparation before and after the games is amazing, as it takes a lot of hard work and dedication from many people to make this thing go down without a hitch. Add to the fact that the Stevenson coaches have their teams playing at state while they are setting things up is even more impressive. Anytime the host school can put on a great event and the fans do their thing, it makes the continued growth of water polo even more exciting.
Set the stage-McAuley has a slight advantage over Evanston in the first girls semifinal, but if the Evanston defense can keep the game low-scoring, the Wildkits may find themselves in a close game down the stretch with the Mighty Macs. Fenwick has the definite advantage over Naperville North, and it will be interesting to see if the physical Friars' defense can contain Kim Buck.
How I'd rank them based on yesterday: 1) Bonk 2) Perry 3) Buck 4) Wimer 5) Cabrera 6) Hatcher 7) Foley 8) Perez
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