Naperville North boys water polo wins sectional title over Hinsdale Central

Let’s dive back into the pool with the boys water polo sectional final at Hinsdale Central. The fourth-seeded Huskies enter off a 9-8 thriller over the DVC Champs, Waubonsie Valley, from the previous day. Their momentum takes them head-to-head against the two-seeded Red Devils, who are coming off a win over Naperville Central. The winner of today’s matchup will face the winner of the New Lenox sectional in Tuesday night’s Super Sectional. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.

Huskies storm out to a big lead

Naperville North picks up right where they left off on Friday as Axel Sujewicz finds Caden Tsao up the middle. He bounces a shot past the Red Devil defense and through for the game’s opening goal as the Huskies set sail early.  

Now up 2-0, the Huskies are on the charge again. This time, John Riordan finds Lazar Tokolich near the same spot, and with a defender in his face, he somehow tosses it in, putting Naperville North up 3-0 just minutes into the game. 

Following a stop on defense, the Huskies are back on attack. Riordan tosses it far to Landon Fennema, and he puts it over the top of the goalkeeper’s head for another Naperville North goal.

Back on the Red Devil’s end, the Huskies play a long game of hot potato until Riordan gets in the passing act again, finding Tsao in front of the net, and for the second time, he puts in the close-range shot as Naperville North goes up 5-0 with over 90 seconds to go in the first.  

On defense, North remains stout. Jack Driscoll looks to get Hinsdale on the board, but he is denied with a one-handed stop by Sharva Pandya to keep the Red Devils scoreless.  

But Hinsdale Central finally breaks through.  Driscoll finds Bogdan Ivkovic at the center, and through a crowd of players, he tosses it off the crossbar and in. The Red Devils are on the board, down 5-1.   

Naperville North controls the first half

But back come the Huskies.  The Riordan and Tsao combination is too lethal as number three finds number eleven for the hat trick. The Naperville North faithful is hyped up as they lead 6-1 after one.  

We pick things up towards the end of the half.  Joe Kearney has the ball at mid pool for the Red Devils, but makes it look easy.  He fires a laser past Pandya and through to make it 6-2 to get some momentum.  

But the Huskies take momentum back. Riordan joins in on the shooting game, as he receives the pass from Sujewicz and tosses it in. North leads at the break up 7-2.  

Tsao’s impressive outing continues.  Now 7-3 in the third, Sujewicz goes from one end to the other to find Tsao, and he drills home the layup shot to put the Huskies back up by five.  

Minutes later, he goes again.  Another hot potato session sees Fennema toss it to Tsao, and he sends in another. One of his six goals on the day as North triples their advantage up 9-3.  

Red Devils make a late charge

The Red Devils fight back, Teddy Chase tosses it up for grabs, and the ball makes its way to Ivkovic, who finds the opening for the goal.  

Then on their next possession,  Jack Driscoll gets the ball and has plenty of breathing room.  He bounces in another zinger as Hinsdale Central closes to within four, down 9-5.

Naperville North boys water polo takes home a fifth straight sectional

But with seconds left in the third, the Huskies leave their mark. Pandya passes it to Riordan, and instead of letting the clock run down, he goes for it all. The buzzer sounds, and the senior does his best Aaron Rodgers impression with an insane Hail Mary toss for the goal!

The Huskies make their statement as they claim the sectional title by a 12-6 victory over Hinsdale Central.  The Blue and Orange take another step closer towards defending their state title,  celebrating the win in style. They return to Hinsdale Central on Tuesday night for the super sectionals, where they will face Brother Rice.