The boys water polo sectional quarterfinals are here as the host Hinsdale Central Red Devils take on the Neuqua Valley Wildcats. The Red Devils look to change course coming off a one-point overtime loss against OPRF as they seek a win in front of their home crowd to open playoff contention. The Wildcats look to upset the Red Devils, coming off a dominant victory against Lockport, and look to keep the run going into the postseason. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Neuqua Valley hangs tough early
The Neuqua offense starts fast as Gabriel Stan connects with the Red Devil net, scoring the evening’s opening goal less than a minute into action.
Central looks to respond quickly and does so as Bogdan Ivkovic secures Central’s opening goal of sectional play.
The Red Devils look to keep up the scoring after letting up a goal from Wildcat senior Colin Mulligan before securing goals from Ivkovic and Jack Driscoll, giving Central a 3-2 lead.
The Wildcat offense keeps pressing the attack button as senior Arun Kaura adds to the Neuqua point total. But, Neuqua trails 5-3 after giving up two straight goals to Kyler Xiong to close the first quarter.
The Hinsdale offense remains flowing to open the second as Driscoll secures the goal to keep the Red Devils in front.
The Red Devils build their lead
However, the Red Devil defense gets too aggressive and sets up Neuqua for a penalty shot. Mario Valente takes the shot and scores. Neuqua trails 7-4.
The Red Devil offense dominates the majority of the second quarter as Ethan Xiong tosses in a goal. The Red Devils enter halftime leading 8-4.
Neuqua looks to start fast to open the second half and does so as it’s Mulligan again, finding the back of the net to spark some energy for the Wildcat offense.
The Wildcats look for a stop but end up committing a foul, allowing Nate Carmody to find the back of the net, extending the Red Devil lead.
Neuqua needs more offense after giving up another goal. Gabriel Stan locates the back of Central’s net; however, the Cats trail 13-6 at the end of the third.
Too much Hinsdale Central offense
Kaura secures a goal to open the fourth quarter to spark a scoring run for the Wildcats. However, Central responds with one of its own to keep the visitors at bay. The Red Devils go on to defeat Neuqua 17-10. The Wildcat season comes to a close as Hinsdale Central advances to play Naperville Central in the sectional semifinals.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page.
