Naperville North is back in the pool with more girls water polo sectional action! This time it’s a DVC clash of the top two seeds at Hinsdale Central, with the one-seeded Huskies taking on the two-seeded Redhawks. North looks to pick up its second win over Central this season, as the Huskies enter off a dominating performance over Metea Valley. Meanwhile, the Redhawks took down Hinsdale Central and are looking to take home their first sectional title since 2017. The winner will face Lincoln-Way East in the Super Sectionals on Tuesday night. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Trading penalty shots in the opening minutes
Early on, North takes advantage of penalties called on Central. Natalie Brown races towards the net with the ball in sight, but is contacted by two Redhawk players, drawing a penalty shot. The Huskies send Ava Podkasik for the five-meter shot, and from the line, she fires it over the goalkeeper’s head to give North the early 1-0 lead.
The Redhawks try to respond as they pass their way down towards the Huskie net, but this time they draw contact from the Huskies. It gets the whistles to blow and calls for another five-meter shot. Central sends Elyse Gensler to attempt to tie it up. Her shot skips off the water and just finds the corner crease as we’re tied at one off back-to-back penalty shots.
North goes back the other way. Brown races to the ball, then spins before firing a long pass to Laney Lund. With no one in front of her, Lund tosses it past the Central goalkeeper and in, as the Huskies reclaim the lead up 2-1.
Lund and the Huskies look to keep it going. She gets the ball and her shot is saved, but contact from behind draws another Redhawk penalty and an upcoming penalty shot. Podkasik goes back to the five-meter line for North, and once again she fires it home! The Huskies triple their advantage off another penalty shot.
The Huskies find their groove
The Redhawks’ aggressive defense draws the ire of the officials again on another scoring chance, and once again the Huskies go back to the five-meter line. This time, it’s Cate Czochara up at the line for North, and she bounces a shot through for the goal. North leads 4-1 after one, with three scores coming off penalties.
The Huskies go right back to work in the second period. Czochara tosses back to Kat Pavlovich, and from outside the line she fires a dart that dings off the inside post and in! North extends the lead to 5-1.
Now 5-2 after Claire Plackett scores for Naperville Central, the Huskies respond quickly. Podkasik finds Czochara up the middle, and with a defender in her face, she somehow shoots it through to put the Huskies back up four at 6-2.
On defense, North remains a brick wall. The Redhawks get a difficult shot off, but Rugie Stackevicius makes a good save to keep them at bay.
The Huskies slam the door to earn another sectional title
Then in the fourth, the Hawks go again, but Stackevicius is there for the stop, looking to strike big on the day.
With the defense stout, the offense pounces. Podkasik and Czochara play catch in front of the net, before Podkasik gets it back and strikes again to quadruple the lead up 8-2.
Then in the fourth, Lund gets it and has no one close enough to stop her. With plenty of time, she puts one in at the top right shelf, as Naperville North cruises to a Super Sectional berth with a 9-2 win over Naperville Central. The Huskies sweep the water polo sectional titles across boys and girls, with the girls claiming their 29th total win on the season. Next up is the Super Sectional against Lincoln-Way East on Tuesday night.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page.
